Dance with the Devil
by Halia Stone
Summary: "Whatever game you're playing, man, you ain't gonna break me."/"Then you've clearly never played with a vampire." [Warning: Contains dark themes/gruesome scenes and an evil Jack]
1. Chapter 1

**So I've had this story idea kicking around for a while, and I finally got around to finishing it - and everything else I was supposed to be updating! - and I thought I'd start bringing my new stories out since I've just finished two.**

**And to anyone wondering, _yes _this story is a little like Fatal Attraction, but this Jack will NOT be mellowing out in any way shape or form and it'll go to slightly darker places as well, so if you're one of those people that want that, stick around, if you don't... just go read Fatal Attraction. xD I'm keeping this Jack evil.**

**If there are any dark themes in later chapters, I'll put up plenty of warnings before hand. While this isn't going to be so dark I need to rate it M, the dark elements are still going to be there and hopefully the characters are still in character even though Jack's pretty much a bona-fide psycho. ;)**

**I played around with the idea for a while and the storyline; overall, I think it turned out pretty good and I hope you'll all stick around for it. And I know this is only a short-ish first chapter, but if you could review to gimme a jump-start, that'd be great. **

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Jerry huffed out a breath and rubbed his gloveless hands together, before shoving them between his knees against the sharp chill of the Spring evening. His companions also showed their discomfort; wrapping their coats tighter around themselves. They must have looked like odd to people passing by; a gang of teenagers sat outside a barista on a Saturday night, lit by the luminance from the building's neon sign and the odd street lamp.

"Man, I'm starving," Mel complained from where she was slumped in her chair. She then checked her watch, sighing heavily. _9:25_. "Next time we're bringing our own food, agreed?" she said to them all in complete seriousness, looking around at them.

"Agreed," Jerry repeated.

"Agreed," Tom and Tyler said in unison, not looking up from their game of footsie they had taken to playing to warm themselves up.

"If Rudy thinks we're doing this again next weekend, he can cram it," Mel added unceremoniously, rolling her eyes.

"So elegant, Mel," Jerry teased, getting punched in the arm by a smiling Mel. But she had a point though; they had all been trapesing around the town for at least two hours, and they'd found no trace of the guy they were looking for.

The barista's door opened with a ding and a waitress walked out with a large tray covered with plates of warm, steaming food. Their heads turned in anticipation, Jerry unable to muffle the rumble from his stomach.

The waitress placed some napkins down between the four of them, Tom and Tyler taking a break from their game of footsie under the table to stare at the food in awe like they were starved animals.

"Okay, I got a tuna melt and a soda-"

"Mine," Mel said, holding up a hand. The waitress placed the plate infront of her and she eagerly grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table and started on her sandwich, ignoring the soda.

"A ham and cheese Panini-"

"Yo," Jerry called, taking the plate from the waitress and setting it down. He ignored the steam coming from it and took a large bite, half-regretting it as it burned down his throat towards his stomach.

"A salad with a side of onion rings-"

"Over here." Tyler accepted the plate with a smile and grabbed a fork, spearing a generous helping of lettuce and tomato into his mouth.

"And a double bacon cheeseburger with pickles and fries and a large coffee topped with whipped cream," she finished, looking at the last of the plates she had on the tray. "Guessin' that's yours darlin'?" she said to Tom with a smile, setting the plate and then the coffee in front of him.

"How do you eat that crap, Tom?" Tyler said distastefully, making a start on his onion rings.

"Easy, like _this_." Tom picked up his burger and took a large bite of it, chewing it emphatically and swallowing it as Tyler rolled his eyes.

He then turned to Mel, angling his chair slightly. "Look, he ain't gonna show," he said, looking around to only see a few couples together and the odd car driving past. "I say we call it," he added.

Mel held up a finger as she finished her mouthful. "I'd love to, but we can't," she said apologetically. "If he really _is_ here, then we need to get to work," she went on. "_Fast_," she emphasized, raising her eyebrows.

"Why are we pulling the night shift two weekends in a row anyway, Mel?" Tom asked through a mouthful of cheeseburger. "We're not the only ones in the goddamned division," he grumbled, trying to take another bite, but his mouth was too full.

"Shame your balls dropped off when you had the chance to say that to Rudy's face," Mel said teasingly, Tom only able to scowl at her.

"He seems to think we can handle it," Tyler put in with a shrug, Mel making a face of agreement. "And Jerry over here" - he slung an arm around his shoulders - "is perfect bait," he declared.

Jerry raised his eyebrows and pushed Tyler's arm away. "If you think I'm putting on a hula skirt and singing, think again," he muttered warningly, pointing a finger at the three of them.

The others burst into laughter and Jerry grinned, before he started laughing alongside them at the mental image that was presenting itself in his head, but as funny as it was, Jerry was _not_ looking forward to being vampire bait. Especially when he wasn't trained in the same ways Mel, Tyler and Tom were. With any luck, the vampire wouldn't be too old, and wouldn't be that strong.

"Wait, wait, wait," Mel said hurriedly, catching sight of a man - alone - walking down the street. "I think that's him over there." She leaned forwards slightly in her chair, trying to get a better look.

Tom poked her in the side. "You're the one with the thermo-goggles," he reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Mel said with a smile. She bent down under the table and reached into her bag, surfacing with a pair of orange plastic goggles on her head, like the kind in Science labs.

She pressed a button on the right handle and there was a faint whirring sound. "Heat signature's showing no body heat," she told them, reaching to take the goggles off. "Even if it's not our guy, it's definitely a vampire," she added, putting the goggles back in the back.

"Then what the hell's he doing at a barista?" Tyler muttered aloud.

"What the hell are _we_ doing at a barista?" Jerry shot back sarcastically. "At half-nine at night," he pointed out. _Again_, he added to himself with a roll of his eyes.

"Touche."

Mel suddenly tossed some ear pieces in Tyler and Tom's direction. "Here," she said, handing one to Jerry whilst putting her own in her ear. "He's talking to someone." She adjusted herself, tucking her hair behind her ear to give her a better chance at catching the conversation.

"Like he's gonna discuss his plans for- whatever vampire's plan for out where people can hear him," Jerry said in protest, but put his earpiece in nonetheless, the hearing in his right ear suddenly amplified.

"Rudy's orders," Mel replied with a shrug, "Observe, don't make contact," she repeated.

"'Cause we'd actually _want_ to?" Tyler said incredulously, eyes bulging slightly. "We'd probably get fangs in our necks faster than we could say 'haemogoblin'," he added with a shudder.

"Haemogoblin," Tom shot back flatly.

The four of them turned their attention to the man, actually a teenager upon closer inspection, who was talking to a woman in her thirties. It seemed like a normal conversation, and probably was, but he _was_ a vampire. They couldn't take any chances, not when they had turned up empty last week, despite an anonymous tip.

The teenager's voice blinkered through their ears with static, before settling: "...Just take a left up the road there-"

The teenager was cut off as a man jogged over to them from across the other side of the street, panting in relief and holding up a pamphlet.

"Ah, honey? It's okay," he said with relief, sounding out of breath. "We're all set." He held up the pamphlet and the woman gave the man a pinched smile.

"Thanks for your help, anyway, but it looks like my husband swallowed his damn pride and bought a map," she said with a chuckle. "Let's just hope he reads the bloody thing right," she added, poking him in the side with a needling glare.

"Who would've thought it'd be so tough to find?" the teenager said with a shrug, chuckling at the couple. "I'd be careful, the roads' get pretty slippery at night," he said, a charming air about him as he smiled at the couple, flashing white teeth.

They waved to him and climbed into their car. The teenager stood still, as if pondering something, before continuing his walk down the street.

"He's just giving a couple directions, Mel," Jerry said in annoyance, just wanting to hurry this up and get back home before his Mum no doubt grounded him for being out past curfew again. "Let's just go; he's not gonna be so stupid as to kill someone out in the open," he said, trying to reason with her, Tom and Tyler looking on board with him.

Mel signed in resignation, but then she gave a sudden start, jerking the metal chair. "Oh, hang on," she said hurriedly, getting up from her seat. "He's just followed a girl into a back alley," she said, although she was already walking towards the alleyway.

"Let's move," Tom said to Tyler, clapping a hand on his shoulder as they both got up. "Jerry, can you stay here in case he comes back?" he asked him, taking a crossbow from under the table and handing a gun to Tyler.

"Like I'm gonna go _anywhere_ when you guys are the ones with the weapons," he said with reassurance, giving him a slightly wry smile.

Tom patted him on the back and he and Tyler hurried off in the opposite direction to the alleyway, muttering to each other under their breath.

Jerry sighed and looked back the way they came; nine times out of ten they just had cases of couples sneaking around - _boy_ those ones made it hard to explain the weapons - and he suspected this was probably one of them, although he could understand them not wanting to take any chances; Rudy had been getting agitated more than usual lately and as mellow as he was, he still had a temper.

He turned back around to finish his panini and jumped out of his skin as a shaggy haired, brown-eyed boy was sitting in one of the empty chairs across from him.

"Oh, jeez!" he cried out, huffing out a breath as he felt his heart jumping in his chest. The boy just laughed.

"Sorry," he apologised with a smile. "I scare you?" he asked lightly, unable to keep the teasing tone out of his voice.

"No, no, I just think you gave me a heart attack," Jerry shot back with a sarcastic smile, to which the boy raised an eyebrow. "Do me a favor and dial 9-1, and then wait for me to tell you to dial the last 1," he added, having to focus and catch his breath before he ended up passing out.

"Let's hope I won't have to," the boy said lightly, although his tone seemed too sinister for it to be a joke. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked off-handedly.

"Asks the guy who popped outta nowhere and nearly put me in the hospital," Jerry countered, eyeing him with a playful grin.

"I'm actually waiting for someone," he told him, looking around briefly, but only finding the odd car driving past. "But no-one else is here, so I thought I'd just come and talk to you," he said, the corner of his lips twitching. Jerry swallowed as he felt the temperature drop suddenly around him.

"Well, my friends ditched me," he said, clearing his throat and folding his arms to try and warm himself up.

"I can see that," the boy said, looking around at the empty seats, chuckling in disbelief when he saw Tom's large burger. "They're not gonna find anything in that alley, you know," he said in a low voice, Jerry freezing in shock.

"What?"

"I'm not stupid, Jerry, I could hear them all the way from over there," he said, turning around to point to where the couple had been previously, and Jerry realised he had been the teenager - _vampire_ \- giving them directions.

Either not sensing Jerry's discomfort, or ignoring it, he continued to smile at him. "Nice trick with the thermo goggles, by the way," he teased.

"How do you know who-"

"I know all of you, Mel, Tyler and Tom, right?" the vampire asked, listing them off on his fingers, and despite the certainty in his voice, Jerry found himself nodding in confirmation. "If you ask me, they're not very good friends if they've left you alone," he murmured softly, "Even worse slayers if they think they're going to be able to kill me." He chuckled darkly to himself.

"There's three of them and one of you," Jerry pointed out, feeling braver than he actually was.

The vampire leaned across the table, Jerry's act disappearing as he shrank back at the sight of his eyes flashing red. "I know..." His grin was eerie and sent a shiver down Jerry's spine.

Thankfully, a waitress had spotted him from inside the barista and had came outside before he could do any damage.

"Welcome to _Bert's Barista_," she said in a cheerful voice, the vampire turning to her. "Can I get you anything?" she asked kindly, poising her pen over her notebook.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Black coffee, two sugars and a shot of vodka with it," he decided, flashing her that same charming smile he'd given the couple earlier.

"I'm gonna need to see some I.D, then," she said, holding out a hand for it.

The vampire leaned forwards and locked his eyes with hers. "No you don't," he said emotionlessly, the woman giving a sudden start and putting her hand away, request for I.D forgotten.

"Uh, that'll be uh-"

"Free," the vampire cut her off in that same, emotionless voice and a dazed smile suddenly spread across the waitress' face.

"On the house," she finished, in a mechanical sounding voice that wasn't her own.

"Thanks," he said gratefully, watching her go inside before turning back towards Jerry, who was staring at him in disbelief. He had just _hypnotised _that woman without so much as lifting a finger - he had to be one of the older vampires.

"What?" he demanded lightly, throwing his hands up. "You're telling me you wouldn't do that if you could?" he added with a smirk, recieving no answer from Jerry.

It wasn't that he had nothing to say, or that he didn't want to. He _couldn't_. A vampire was sitting right across from him - so close he could feel his knee brushing against his own - and he could be dead at any minute if he said or did the wrong thing.

"I'm not gonna kill you, okay?" he said reassuringly, although Jerry didn't feel it. "So quit your shivering," he added with a harsh smirk.

"Not everyday I have coffee with a vampire," Jerry said plainly, raising his eyebrows at him.

The vampire chuckled in response and picked up one of Tom's fries from his plate, popping it into his mouth. That piqued Jerry's interest, even though he had completely abandoned the thought of eating himself.

"How can you even eat if you're...?" he trailed off, unable to say it. He made an exaggerated movement with his hands.

"Dead?" the vampire finished for him, eating another fry, and Jerry nodded. "Or on my way to kill your friends?" he said dangerously, eyes glowering.

Jerry swallowed uncomfortably, moving in his seat - which was a bad idea as the boy felt his knee moving against his own - and the boy smiled eeriely, pulling apart Tom's burger and taking out a pickle slice.

"Now, I know _you're_ not a slayer," he said, briefly pointing the pickle slice at him before putting it into his mouth. "Otherwise you'd have a stake under the table or some kind of a weapon other than this place's food," he chuckled and Jerry felt cold streak down his backbone - how did he even know he didn't have anything?

"So what're you doing with them?" he went on, leaning back in his chair with interest. "You have a death-wish or something?" he wondered, and for a brief second, Jerry wondered if he did too.

"It was either this or math homework," Jerry responded flatly, the vampire just raising his eyebrows with a faint smile. "What are _you_ doing here?" he retorted, narrowing his eyes.

"Just passing through," he said simply, his smile broadening. "Even vampires have lives, y'know," he added, chuckling playfully.

"Jerry, it's alright, it was just a-"

Mel's voice was cut short as she realised Jerry had company. The three of them ran over, brandishing their crossbows protectively. The vampire didn't even bat an eyelid and continued eating Tom's fries.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tom asked, venom in his voice as he glared at the vampire.

"Waiting for my coffee," he replied with a nonchalant shrug, turning around to face Tom in his chair.

"Get away from him," Mel ordered, holding her crossbow up higher, aiming the bolt towards the vampire's face.

The vampire stiffened suddenly and pulled a face. "Tyler, that crossbow _does_ hurt," he said, turning around and pushing the boy's weapon slowly away from him with an index finger.

"The only one who's gonna get hurt is you, you arrogant piece of sh-"

Before the epithet could even _leave_ Tyler's mouth, the vampire had gotten up and wrapped a hand around his throat, the creature squeezing so tight that a vein was gruesomely sticking out of Tyler's forehead. Mel and Tom tightened their grips on their crossbows in defense as Tyler's slipped limply from his fingers.

"Tyler!"

The bolt discharged and the whistling stake was caught in the vampire's spare hand with him not even sparing them a glance; a virtuoso display of reflex. He tightened his grip on Tyler's throat and growled low in his throat, his neck cracking as he turned to stare at Mel.

"_You probably shouldn't have done that_."

Without blinking, he threw the stake back in Mel's direction. She yelled out and ducked for cover, the weapon thankfully missing her and stopping its deadly course as it embedded itself in a metal lampost behind her. Jerry shot off out of his seat and ran over to her.

The vampire turned his attention back to Tyler and dropped him on the ground, kicking him unconcious as he had begun to cough for breath. Mel scrambled up and rushed towards him.

Jerry winced at the sound of the vampire's slap that sent Mel crumpling to the ground, while Tom ran over to help her up, supporting her as she stumbled briefly from dizziness. Jerry made to move as well.

"Jerry, stay over there!" Mel cried sharply, Jerry freezing in his tracks. He didn't need telling twice.

The vampire scoffed. "Aww, protecting your friend?" he cooed mockingly, "You can try and stop me, but you won't get far," he said tauntingly, his face lacking any emotion.

"Typical vampire arrogance," Tom sneered at him.

"It's not arrogance if you know it's true, Tom," the vampire shot back, a smile making a short appearance on his face. "But take a shot," he said with a shrug, invitingly gesturing towards himself.

Then his lips twisted into a wicked smirk, eyes swirling with red. "If you can."

No sooner than his challenge had disappated into the air, Tom leapt forward to attack the vampire; he dodged the attack with ease, grabbing one of Tom's punches and shoving him in the direction of a parked car before he could react. Tom stared at him in fury and the vampire gave an arrogant smirk.

From behind him, Mel lunged, ready to bury a knife into his back, having dropped her crossbow. He spun around and grabbed her wrist, smacking the knife out of her grip and kicking her into Tom in one fluid movement. He stepped forwards and Tom and Mel glared daggers, raising their fists in defense.

Mel swung forward with a punch, the vampire simply raising his arm and blocking her. She kicked at his stomach in frustration; the vampire grabbed hold of her leg and pulled her towards him, slyly pulling the gun out of her ankle holster. He pushed her back in Tom's direction, Mel breathing out indignantly.

"You know..." the vampire trailed off, whilst emptying the gun of ammunition, "And I'm just spitballin' here," there was a _click!_ as he broke off the clip, "but, uh, maybe" - he dropped the empty gun carelessly on the ground - "you're not as good as you think you are?" he suggested lightly, shooting Tom a coy look.

Racing forwards, Tom attacked with a back kick. The vampire caught it under his arm, sucessfully preventing Tom from moving. He then swept Tom's leg out from under him with a bone-crushing punch and flipped him onto the pavement, blood trickling from underneath him as he groaned in pain. The vampire grinned and fixed the collar of his shirt.

"What the hell did you _think_ was gonna happen, huh?" he asked incredulously, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You just point your crossbows at me-"

He leaned down in towards Tom with a mocking smile, his eyes hard and cold.

"And I'd just roll over like a little lapdog?!" he yelled above him, Tom wincing sharply from the creature's distorted, booming voice.

"Pathetic," he sneered, scoffing in disbelief. "Maybe if I was a lot younger, I would have," he pointed out, briefly turning around to smile triumphantly at Mel.

As he turned his attention back to Tom, the slayer had gotten to his feet, slashing the knife Mel had dropped deep into his face.

The vampire recovered quickly and grabbed Tom's throat tightly. His eyes widened as the cut healed instantly, the only trace left being a thin, red line.

"I'm gonna put this in the best way I can," the vampire began with a deranged sounding chuckle, "You're screwed."

Red eyes flashed and sharp fangs glinted before they were buried into Tom's neck, the other boy yelling out in pain and struggling to get away. His struggling only succeeded in his flesh getting torn deeper by the vampire's fangs.

The vampire then drove his knee hard into Tom's stomach, pulling away from his neck and punching him hard across the face. Tom collapsed on the pavement, wheezing and struggling to breathe.

It seemed almost like a twisted act of mercy when the vampire hoisted him to his feet by the scruff of his shirt and struck him across the face a final time, knocking him out and dropping the unconcious slayer back onto the ground.

Mel reacted suddenly; snatching up her crossbow from the ground and hitting the butt hard against the vampire's jaw. As she went in for another hit, the vampire grabbed her wrists tightly in an arm lock, twisting them until Mel yelped in pain and let the crossbow fall from her fingers.

Now weaponless, Mel wrenched her hands from the creature's grip and punched him hard across the face, gritting her teeth at the pain in her hand as her knuckles began to swell.

The vampire stumbled back, wiping under his nose. He cracked his neck and looked on at Mel, goading her to fight him.

Mel was unresponsive and the vampire threw the first punch, Mel thankfully coming back to her senses in time to block it and deliever another counter punch to the vampire's face. He was unaffected and smacked another of her punches away, ducking from another that immediately followed. He punched her in the stomach and reared up to his full height, shoving Mel to the ground.

He raised his foot, attempting to bring it down on her chest and crush her ribs, but Mel managed to block it in time. She punched him in the stomach, standing up and managing to ram him back a few paces, with the full force of her body behind her. She swung in for another hit...

But the vampire was having none of it this time; he grabbed her in a brusingly tight arm lock and tossed her through the air. Mel came crashing into one of the barista tables, flipping it over with her weight and landing painfully on her side.

He kicked the table away from her, just as easy as if it were a football, and Mel quickly scrambled up and caught her breath; the vampire eyed her crossbow on the floor, as did she...

Ignoring it, she shot off towards him. The vampire caught on and effortlessly bypassed her, his hands sending her sailing through the air and crashing straight through the windshield of a parked car with a mere flick of his wrists; the glass splintering like large crystals underneath her as she disappeared into the front.

"Mel!"

Jerry started forwards again to help her, but a full-fanged snarl from the vampire and a glimpse of those red eyes was enough to send him scrambling back behind the chair. He could only watch as a dazed and cut Mel crawled out of the hole left by the shattered windshield.

The vampire walked towards her and Mel gritted her teeth, leaping off the car bonnet and colliding into the vampire's hard body. On their way to the ground, he twisted them around, remaining on his feet while Mel landed painfully on the concrete. She coughed up blood and the vampire pushed her over onto her side with his foot, brandishing her crossbow at her.

She breathed out, raising her hands in defeat. Jerry winced as the barrel was brought down hard on her head and a large wound had been slashed open, blood pouring down the side of her head.

Jerry turned at the sound of the barista's door opening, as did the vampire - the waitress' scream of terror was barely out of her mouth before he forwards in a blur of motion and broke her neck with a sickening crunch, catching the coffee mug in his hand without spilling a single drop as her body fell to the ground.

Nonchalantly, he brought the rim to his mouth and took a long drink. "Mmm, that's good coffee," he said with a contented sigh as he wiped his mouth, voice deep with appreciation.

The glass smashed on the floor as his demeanour changed and Jerry felt his body freeze in fear as a pair of arms wrapped tightly around his neck, choking the life out of him.

"You said you weren't gonna kill me!" he cried out pathetically, fighting aimlessly against the vampire's hold; punching, kicking and scratching. The vampire didn't even have the paitence to _pretend_ to be annoyed.

"I'm not," he said in a soft voice, as if _that_ was supposed to reassure him. "I just need someone scared enough to run back to your friends' boss and tell him..." he trailed off and Jerry grimaced as he yanked him closer, his mouth practically on his ear.

"Tell him that Jack Brewer says 'hi'," he whispered as a farewell.

Jerry's coughs filled the air before he even registered his knees landing on the hard pavement, making them throb in pain. He looked around, rubbing his throat and trying to force some air back into his lungs.

They were screwed alright; that vampire would be back, he was sure of it.

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**Well, that's the first chapter - gotta say I liked writing the fight scenes. (Mel's a fiesty one, ain't she? hehe) :) For anyone wondering, Kim and Milton are in this (sorry, Eddie isn't) but they know nothing about the supernatural or that Jerry helps out the slayers. And I bet y'all knew the vampire was Jack right off, didn't ya? xD**

**See ya next time with the next update, whenever that may be, and please review. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy crap it feels good to be updating something after a long-ass exam season! I would've updated much sooner, but I just didn't have the drive or the inspiration for it when I wanted to, so here we are.**

**And thank you so much for the reviews last chapter, and thank you to everyone that read/favourited/followed. It really does mean a lot. I seriously hate to do this, but I wanna know who's still reading this story - especially after a while away - so I'll need _over_ fifteen reviews for an update. It really doesn't take long to put some words in the little box, I will say that much. xD**

**I won't say too much about this chapter, except that there's a gore warning. Other than that, you should be okay. ;) Enjoy, review, and I'll see you with the next update, whenever that may be.**

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"Ow!" Tom yelped in surprise as Jerry sprayed the disinfectant on the worst of his scrapes, slapping the canister out of his hand and pressing his own over it with a sour expression on his face. "Jesus, Jerry..." he breathed, looking at him pleadingly.

Jerry scowled and picked up the canister. "Do you want me to help, or not, Tom?" he asked, a little tetchier than he wanted.

"Fine," Tom grumbled, holding out his arms and allowing Jerry to spray him with the disinfectant.

Mel walked over to the two of them, holding an icepack over her bruised, purple eye, after popping Tyler's shoulder back into its socket. She was limping and her face looked worse in the brighter lights of the building. It was lucky she hadn't been concussed and was able to help Jerry get Tom and Tyler back in one piece.

"How you holdin' up, Mel?" Tyler asked, nursing his shoulder.

"As alright as I can be," she responded dejectedly. "What with none of us being prepared for last night," she added lowly, biting her lip.

"What are you talking about?" Jerry asked in confusion. "You were prepared to take down a vampire," he noted, having seen them arm themselves to the teeth before they all left for the barista.

Mel snorted in disbelief. "Clearly not," she said wryly, sighing in aggravation. "Since that one last night whaled on us, no problem," she admitted bedgrudingly, sneering in annoyance.

The double doors hissed open and Rudy strode in, looking at them all in shock. Jerry nearly scoffed; what did he expect?

"What happened?" he demanded heatedly, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you all okay?" he asked worriedly.

"We're fine, Rudy," Mel said with a chuckle, holding her hands up in protest. "Just a few bruises," she said as Rudy rushed over to them.

"Or bites in Tom's case," Tyler added. gesturing to the dried blood under Tom's hand that was pressed on the gash.

Tom winced slightly at Rudy's expression. "In my defense, I _did_ piss him off," he informed him, holding up his finger.

"He would've done that anyway, Tom, and you know it," Mel grumbled under her breath, sighing as she found more cuts along her arms and was more than likely running out of disenfectant.

"Let's just be thankful he didn't kill you," Rudy muttered, walking over to Tom and gently easing his hand away from the bitemark, grimacing when it was revealed.

"Who was that guy?" Jerry asked in exasperation, looking around at his bruised and battered friends, touching his own neck in remembrance. Thankfully the vampire hadn't left him with any physical wounds.

"Who he told you he was; Jack Brewer," Rudy said in worry, still examining Tom's bitemark. "Didn't realise he was back in town," he said with aggravation, handing Tom some bandages, a needle and thread.

"Neither did we," Tom said emphatically, rolling his eyes at Rudy. "Y'know, I bet he's the one who gave us that anonymous tip, just so he could spy on us," he grumbled, folding his arms.

"What's the deal with this Jack guy, anyway?" Jerry asked in Rudy's direction.

"He's a very old, very powerful vampire," Rudy explained, Jerry nearly blurting out that he could have guessed that himself, funnily enough. "Rumoured to be among one of the first to walk the Earth," he added, Jerry's eyes widening in surprise.

"And if that's true, that places him between five or six thousand years old," Mel explained, shuddering slightly.

"And _strong,_" Tom added on, rolling his eyes.

"No wonder he cleaned your clocks," Rudy noted bluntly.

Mel gave a sarcastic grin in Rudy's direction: "Thanks, Rudy," she said wryly, Rudy shrugging at her, while Jerry supposed he _did_ have a point.

"Fuck!" Tom yelped suddenly, pulling the needle and thread away from his neck as he only suceeded in nicking the wound open again, fresh blood leaking down his shirt.

"Dude, lemme give you a hand with that before you stab yourself," Tyler intervened, all-but snatching the needle and thread from Tom.

"Thanks," he said with a light smile, tilting his head to the side, while Tyler set about re-threading it, then in turn, stitching him up.

"We should've shot that guy when we had the chance," Tyler muttered under his breath, Mel looking in agreement.

"Would it have done anything?" Tom wondered through gritted teeth. "If he's as old as we think," he added, gasping in pain and clutching a fistful of his jeans as Tyler began to pull the ripped skin closed.

"This is bad," Tyler said, although Jerry wasn't clear on whether he was commenting solely on Tom's bite wound, or the vampire himself. "He knows who we all are and now he's probably on his way to massacre us," he said fearfully, Tom reaching up to pat his shoulder reassuringly.

"Why are you all so afraid of him?" Jerry asked in wonder, none of them meeting his eyes fully after that. " Y'know, besides him being a vampire," he added, knowing that wasn't what had spooked them; he had seen Tom take a vampire down with just a cocktail umbrella before.

"Oh, that doesn't worry us," Mel said off-handedly, "But what _does_, is that he'll never forget what happened five years ago," she said, then she clapped her hand over her mouth, like she had just cursed in front of a parent, Tom and Tyler looking at her in warning, shaking their head in Rudy's direction.

"What happened five years ago?" Jerry asked, his interest now piqued.

Rudy cleared his throat, and then looked around at Mel, Tom and Tyler. "You guys okay here?" he asked, Jerry's brows furrowing slightly in confusion.

As did Mel's. "We're fine," she said with a puzzled look on her face.

Rudy sighed and gave Mel a thin smile. Then he put an arm around Jerry's shoulders and took him in the direction of the double doors. "Come with me," he said quietly, sounding resigned. Jerry followed.

"What I'm about to show you is the exact reason Jack probably came after all of you tonight," Rudy explained as they walked down the hallways to his office.

He started rummaging around the drawers of his desk and Jerry just stood there, glancing around the walls that were lined with newspaper clippings of 'animal attacks' that had been annotated with bright red marker pen. There was also a wall of vampires marked, 'Highly Dangerous', some with a line of red tape through them. Jack's picture, Jerry noted, had no such thing on it.

"Five years ago, we'd actually managed to capture him, and we were studying him to find out more about the weaknesses of vampires and what they actually are, so we could find out how the very first ones came to walk the Earth, if their kind are made through their blood being spread through humans, and the humans then dying and being ressurrected by it's healing powers," Rudy explained, head still buried under his desk.

"So how did he escape?" Jerry asked, folding his arms.

"After a year or so here, I imagine we got lax in restraining him, and when he was given his daily cup of blood - to stop him dessicating so we could still study him - a slayer got too close to him and..." Rudy's voice trailed off, then he resurfaced, holding a hand-camera. "Well, I'm sure you can imagine the rest," he said, raising his eyebrows while Jerry nodding.

"Didn't he have a mouth restraint on or something?" Jerry asked.

"Probably," Rudy shrugged, sighing heavily. "I wasn't on duty when he escaped, thankfully I was out on a hunt," he said with a strained smile.

"So that's why he came after us?" Jerry summarised. "Because of what happened five years ago?" he said in light shock, wondering just how bad Jack had deemed the events in his head, that he had to hold it around for five years and couldn't let go.

"Could be," Rudy guessed, switching the camera on and not fully meeting his eyes, sighing once more. "In which case, I want you to be careful," he added

"What happened when he escaped?" Jerry wondered out loud.

"Every single slayer was dead," Rudy said bluntly. "All two-hundred and fifty of them," he revealed, Jerry's eyes widening slightly. "It wasn't a day I like to remember, having to tell all those families some lie about why someone wouldn't be coming back," he said somberly.

"I'll leave you the tape, if you wanna see it," he added, resting the camera on the desk, looking slightly surprised at Jerry's look of intrigue. "I need to make sure security's tight, and that Tom hasn't managed to stab himself in the neck," he said, moving to leave, patting Jerry on the shoulder.

Jerry watched him leave, turning his attention back to the camera. He picked it up, looking at where Rudy had paused it. From the quality of the CCTV camera, he saw Jack restrained to a trolley, his arms and legs pinned down by thick straps, and Jerry could see the color drained from his face due to the lack of blood.

He took a breath and pressed play.

There was no sound, and the tape kept flickering and static cut across in various points. Jerry was clearly able to make out a female slayer in the room with Jack, and the lack of defense around his mouth, which could soon spawn fangs. He watched on as she walked towards him, a small cup in hand.

It seemed a split-second before she realised what she was doing; Jack snapped his head to the side, crushing her neck in his mouth, the woman's blood spurting up into his face as her screams no doubt echoed through the building.

Jack snapped the belts holding him with ease, and gripped the woman tighter, feeding so hard that he tore her head from her body. He gasped in relief, not bothering to lick the thick blood from around his lips. He sped forwards, kicking the door off it's hinges and walking ahead, wherein the camera switched to a different angle.

A slayer looked up, giving Jack a double-take. The vampire grinned evilly and sped forwards, sinking his thumbs into the man's eye sockets, his lips curling in a sneer at the man's screams that were only for his ears. He shot forwards and pulled the slayer's body up against his, sinking his fangs into his neck.

He tore away, the body dropping to the floor, his eyes rolling back slightly in pleasure. Jack flexed his fingers, smirking at the power buzzing through him, and sped off in search of any slayers still on the same floor.

Another door was wrenched off its hinges, exposing two slayers to the raging vampire; they proved no match for him, their hearts clenched into Jack's palms like sickening shrine offerings. He gave their corpses a twisted smile, dropping their hearts and crushing the skull of one beneath his boot. He switched his neck, his head roving around to face the camera anchored on the wall above him.

Jerry winced to himself, pausing it, almost able to hear Jack's voracious snarl echoing in his mind, his fangs and lips stained with the blood of the few slayers he had already torn apart, his eyes blazing with anger that was causing a malavolent glint in them, Jerry swearing there were flecks of red in the eyes that had been passive until the female slayer made that fatal, and deadly, mistake.

Sighing and shutting the camera back in Rudy's desk, he left the room, still shaken. He went back to find Mel, Tom and Tyler, retreating more into himself, wrapping his arms around himself. Mel looked at him quizzically, then it clicked inside her brain.

"I'm guessing you're all clued up now, from the look on your face?" she wondered, Jerry wordlessly nodding at her, unable to actually say anything.

"We were brought on not too long after it happened," she explained, sighing in rembrance.

"Not too long?" Tyler repeated incredulously, eyes bulging slightly. "Rudy was still hosing off blood stains!" he said, wildly gesturing to the walls.

His only response was a whack in the stomach from Tom, effectively silencing him.

"Think he'd do something like that again?" Jerry asked nervously.

"If we're stupid enough to imprision him again, yes, he probably will," Mel said pointedly, shrugging to herself, "But we're not, so we're just gonna have to leave him alone and focus on younger vampires," she decided, sighing begrudgingly.

"We can't just leave him alive, Mel," Tom argued back.

"Yes we can, Tom," Mel said emphatically, staring at him. "If it keeps us safe, then we can," she explained, Tom nodding begrudgingly in understanding.

"It wasn't even a hunt last night," Tyler growled under his breath. "It was an ambush," he added knowingly, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"You're telling me," Mel said incredulously, throwing her arms up in the air. "He threw me into a van's windshield!" she added, gesturing to her bruised face and arms.

"We have to do _something_," Jerry said emphatically, folding his arms. "We can't just let him keep killing people," he said with a grimace.

"Nobody in the branch is strong enough to take him on," Mel said pointedly, the rest of them nodding in agreement. "We'd need another vampire, but even then, where would we find one willing, and that could, to stand up against Jack _and_ help a bunch of slayers?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"We are so screwed," Tom declared, putting his head in his hands and groaning. "I mean, he obviously wanted Rudy to know he's in town, but why?" he wondered out loud, grunting in frustration as he came up with nothing.

"He need a reason?" Tyler pitched in, rolling his eyes. "He's a vampire, he loves killing and torturing; why not add mind games to the list?" he added sarcastically.

Jerry cracked a light smile, starting when he caught sight of the clock on the wall.

"Oh shoot," he said in surprise, double-checking on his watch to test he wasn't seeing things. "I've gotta get home; Mum's gonna be wondering where I am," he explained, looking around at the others, who nodded in understanding.

"I'll drive you," Tom volunteered, hopping off the crate stack he had been sat on.

"Are you sure?" Jerry asked.

"You're not walking it," Tom said firmly, grabbing his keys and heading for the doorway, Jerry following. "Especially with Jack around; he'd snatch you up off the street quicker than you could say 'Supercallafragilisticexpalidocious,'" he added in a serious tone, Jerry not even bothering to comment on that last one.

About an hour or so later, Tom pulled up in Jerry's driveway, Jerry noticing no lights were on upstairs. Maybe his Mum had already gone to bed and would forget in the morning about grounding him for being out late.

Jerry got out of the car, shutting the door behind him. "Thanks," he said to Tom through the rolled down passenger window.

"No problem," he said with a smile, then his expression turned serious. "You be careful, alright?" he added, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, shifting the car into gear.

"Always am," Jerry retorted, Tom snorting at him before driving off.

He walked to his front door, opening it slowly, and tried to shut it quietly, but he forgot about the loud creak as it did. He grimaced and braced himself as the landing light switched on and his - very tired-looking - Mum eyed him from the landing.

"Jerry, is that you?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Yeah, Mum," Jerry responded, "Sorry about making you wait up for me, Tom got stuck in traffic," he lied, a little troubled about how easy he found it these days.

"Not a problem, honey," his Mum said, brushing it off, much to Jerry's surprise, "I've left some pasta in the microwave if you want it," she added, a large yawn sneaking out of her mouth.

"Thanks," he said with a smile, his Mum returning one tiredly before she trudged back to her bedroom, her lamp's light fading and leaving the upstairs landing in absolute darkness.

Jerry rushed into the kitchen where the lights were still on. He wasn't paranoid, he very quickly convinced himself, just hungry. He located the pasta in the tupperware box and headed over to the microwave, putting it in.

A few minutes later, he retrieved it, pulling out a fork from the cutlery drawer, spearing a large amount into his mouth, just as his phone started ringing. He frowned as he couldn't recognise the number.

"Hello?" he answered, his mouth filled with pasta.

"Hello, Jerry," an amused voice on the other end said pleasantly, Jerry's eyes widening in utter shock.

He quickly looked around for a napkin, spitting the pasta he had in his mouth into it, turning his attention back to the phonecall. "Jack..."

"Enjoy my little massacre earlier?" he asked, as if it had been something so casual as a movie at the cinema. "Sorry it wasn't hi-def, but I did my best," he added sympathetically, Jerry able to _hear_ the evil smirk in his voice.

"What do you want?" Jerry asked sourly, too tired and not in the mood to play his games.

"Nice house, by the way," Jack deflected, Jerry's eyes widening in shock and a shiver shooting down his back once his brain caught up with his ears. "Got some decorating tips for your bedroom, but it's nice," he went on, chuckling to himself.

"You're bluffing," Jerry said with certainty, although he could hear footsteps upstairs - most likely his Mum - and he wasn't going to risk going up there when there was no light on.

"Am I?" Jack asked in a playful tone. Jerry ground his teeth in frustration.

"There's no way my Mum would invite you in," he argued, but he then realised she didn't _know_ about vampires and would have no way of knowing whether an innocent 'Come in' would spell her death or not.

"Isn't there?" Jack shot back with a chuckle that rendered Jerry speechless. He looked around, relieved to find everything locked, but then he swallowed. Not like that would stop a vampire.

"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the vampires bite," Jack sang lightly, Jerry shuddering again, "Or however that goes," he added, having amused himself like he wanted, ending the call.

Abandoning the pasta, Jerry shot up the stairs and into the safety of his bedroom, turning the light on and instantly bathing the room. He shut the door behind him and crossed to his window, looking nervously out of it. He had an overwhelming feeling that he was being watched, uneasiness washing over him.

He closed the window tightly, pulling the curtains closed and stepping back. He swallowed, realising that if Jack _hadn't_ been bluffing, that nothing was stopping him from coming into the house; nothing was stopping him from coming into his _room_. Nothing would stop him from tearing him to shreds...

To say that Jerry fell into an uneasy sleep once he was settled, was an understatement.

* * *

Jerry awoke to the sunlight piercing his eyelids. He rolled over, surprised he'd managed to get any sleep at all, and caught sight of his alarm clock. _8:30. _That was odd, usually his Mum would have woken up before then and been walking around, waking _him_ up in turn.

Puzzled, he got out of bed, and went into the hallway. The entire house was silent; no sound of any cupboards being open in the kitchen; no water running in the bathroom; no annoying birds that were usually outside the window...

"Mum?" he called, breaking the silence. His brows furrowed in confusion as he recieved no reply. She never left for work early enough for him to still be asleep, or on the rare occasion that would happen, she would come and wake him up so he wouldn't be late for school.

"Mum?" he tried again, pushing the door to her room open, sighing in relief when he saw her still asleep under the bedcovers. "You're gonna be late for work," he scolded her lightly, reaching to pull back the covers and wake her up.

A startled yell tore from his throat at the sight; his mother's throat had been completely torn out, blood drenching the sheets, her body, and splattering the celing above. This couldn't be real, it couldn't be-

Cool steel gripped his arm and Jerry turned abruptly, eyes widening as he came face to face with Jack, his mouth still bloody.

"Miss me?" he asked with a chuckle, tilting his head to the side.

Before Jerry could response, break free from his grip, run, _anything_, Jack's eyes became bloodshot and deadly, fangs glinting as he bore down on him with a snarl-

"No, don't!" Jerry cried out, abruptly waking himself up. He fought to catch his breath, his heart hammering inside his chest. He glanced over to the window; thankfully it was still locked, and he could hear his Mum rustling around in her room.

He went to check though, just in case.

Sighing in relief when he saw her up and walking around, Jerry went back to his bedroom and pulled out his phone, dialling Rudy's number.

"He _what?!_" Rudy asked incredulously, Jerry having to hold the phone a few inches from his ear, once he had relayed the news of the previous night.

"I don't know if she actually invited him in or not," he said quickly to stop the oncoming rant that Rudy was about to launch in to, "But I'm still breathing, so I guess he lied," he guessed with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, this is bad..." Rudy muttered, Jerry picturing him nervously chewing on his lower lip and running a hand through his hair. "Is your mum alright?" he asked with caution.

"She's fine," Jerry said with relief. "She's gone to work," he added, glad that he did know where she went and wouldn't have to lie to get Rudy off his back. She'd said goodbye to him before she left, throat thankfully unscathed.

"Alright," Rudy said with relief, Jerry nodding alongside him even though Rudy couldn't see him. "Now, Jerry I want you to listen to me," he said slowly, so Jerry had no option but to do that.

"Okay," Jerry said simply, the silence telling Rudy he was all ears.

Rudy sighed to himself. "You're the only person I can think of to let do this-"

"Will you spit it out?" Jerry said in annoyance, the latter tetchier sounding than he would've wanted. He blamed it on the lack of sleep.

"I want you to kill Jack," he said bluntly.

Jerry wasn't sure he had heard him properly. "You want me to-?" He couldn't even repeat the sentence back because it sounded so ridiculous out loud. "If Mel, Tom and Tyler couldn't manage, how the Hell am I going to?!" he asked incredulously; he wasn't even properly trained as a slayer, he had only been brought into it because he had unknowingly saved Tom's life while he was on a hunt.

"Believe me, I feel uncomfortable asking this, but he's obviously taken a liking to you-"

"If by liking, you mean wanting to put me through a bunch of mind games before he kills me, then yes, he _really_ likes me," Jerry cut him off sarcastically, rolling his eyes. However, the statement made him look around nervously.

"Just hear me out, please?" Rudy said, Jerry sighing at him. "If you can get close to him, you'll be able to kill him; he won't anticipate something like that to happen right under his nose," he explained, Jerry severely doubting that. If he was as old as they said he was, wouldn't he anticipate every possible outcome?

"So, you're asking me to play a game with one of the oldest, deadliest freaks out there?" he asked, the words sounding even more stupid than he would have thought. Maybe he really did have a death wish...

"That's exactly what I'm asking you to do," Rudy retorted.

"Alright, I'll do it," Jerry said finally after a long pause, rubbing his brow; he was so going to regret this tomorrow morning. "But how exactly are we supposed to-"

"I'll take care of the rest," Rudy cut him off, a little too abruptly for Jerry's liking, since he hadn't actually provided an explanation to how he was going to go about this little Kamikaze mission. "Don't worry," he reassured him, ending the phonecall.

"I wasn't," Jerry answered flatly, well aware he was just talking to himself now. "Until _now_," he added pointedly, sighing and pulling the phone away from his ear, jumping as it buzzed not a moment later.

He opened his messages and there was a text from Kim.

_From: Kim_

_Message: Hey, practice is cancelled, wanna go to Circus Burger instead?_

Jerry rolled his eyes as he texted back his reply; in addition to being a slayer and the head of a division, Rudy also ran a Karate Dojo. Yet it had never occured to him to train the students _there_ as slayers too, so more often than not, classes were cancelled with some pretty lame excuses.

_From: Jerry_

_Message: Sure, meet you there in a few._

Thankfully, Jerry managed to make it to Circus Burger in one piece - taking care to lock the door when he left - and without running into Jack, or any other vampire for that matter. He pushed open the doors, finding Kim and Milton already sat together at a booth.

"Man, you look like you haven't slept for days," Kim noted as Jerry slid into the opposite side of the booth.

"Not quite days," Jerry responded with a small smile, rubbing his eyes.

"Up late playing video games again?" Milton guessed knowingly, leaning back in the seat. "I tell you the same thing every day; they'll only rot your brain," he said in a playfully condescending tone, Jerry rolling his eyes.

"Like it needs any help according to you?" the other boy shot back, raising an eyebrow knowingly, Milton smiling sheepishly while Kim laughed beside him.

Jerry couldn't find anything in him to respond to the laughter; he was so tired, the only thing he could manage was to rub his eyes. All night, all he could think about was Jack's phonecall to him - nevermind how he got his number in the first place - and if what he said was true, that meant that there was nothing stopping him from coming into his house; nothing stopping him from slaughtering both him and his mother.

That had meant that his entire night - minus the few minutes that were rudely stolen by his nightmare - had been spent with his eyes glued to the door, covers pulled up over his chin, and tensing at every little sound that was most likely his mother, not a bloodthirsty vampire that had left him and his friends alive purely for his own amusement; so he could kill them all at his own leisure, one by one...

"Jerry!" Kim's slightly-laughing voice broke Jerry immediately from his thoughts.

"Huh?" He looked up to see Kim and Milton looking at him expectantly, as well as a waitress, a light amused smile on her face as she poised her pen over her notepad.

"Can I take your order?" she asked with a chuckle, obviously not for the first time.

"Oh, right, sorry," Jerry apologised, flashing her a quick, sheepish smile. "Uh..." He picked up a menu and scanned it: "Small cheeseburger with fries, extra ketchup and no pickles," he said eventually.

"That everything?" the waitress asked kindly, looking at the three of them.

"Actually, I'll try one of your sundae's too," Kim pitched in with a smile.

"Good choice," she said with appreciation. "What flavour?" she asked.

Kim picked up the menu, flicking over to the 'dessert's' page. "Strawberry with chocolate sauce," she decided, putting the menu back on the table.

The waitress wrote down Kim's add-on. "I'll have someone bring it all over," she said, leaving them with a smile.

"A double-cheeseburger _and_ a sundae?" Milton asked incredulously, turning to Kim with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I went on a run this morning," Kim informed him, sounding affronted. "I earned it," she said proudly, crinkling her nose up at Milton.

"How many miles?" Milton asked, chuckling to himself.

Kim just smiled sweetly in response, angling herself towards Milton. A dull thud was heard and Milton gave a sharp cry, the smile slipping off of Kim's face and replacing itself with a deviously triumphant look.

Jerry laughed and reached over the table to fist-bump Kim, the latter returning hers with a playful raise of her eyebrows. She leaned back in her seat, _her_ smile never faltering, but Jerry's did, almost as quickly as it had appeared. He couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching him.

And he was right.

He dared turn around, and his blood turned to ice. Jack was stood outside on the street, watching him with hollow eyes. Like a deer caught in headlights, Jerry just stared back, unable to do anything else. Jack lifted a hand and waved to him, a chilling smirk spreading across his face, making Jerry swallow.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes, as if he was trying to make Jack go away, and it actually _worked_; Jack was no longer on the street. He had disappeared so fast it made Jerry wonder whether he had even been there at all, or if his paranoia - _expected_ paranoia - had manifested itself into full blown hallucinations.

Jerry jumped a little as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and hid it under the table, opening the new message.

_From: Sender Unknown_

_Message: Watch your back._

He swallowed hard, no doubt at all about who that was from. He tried to reassure himself that Jack was just trying to scare him, but he knew from last night at the barista that he would kill just for fun and to amuse himself.

A gentle kick at his ankle made him finally tear his eyes away from his phone, seeing Kim and Milton looking at him in worry.

"Jerry, what is with you?" Milton asked in exasperation. "You've been staring at the floor for the past ten minutes," he noted, Jerry raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Uh," he trailed off, unsure of what to say. He deleted the message and put his phone back in his pocket, determined to shake it from his mind. "Nothing, I'm fine," he lied.

"If you say so," Kim shot back in disbelief, Jerry grateful that she didn't decide to pursue it any further. "Hey our food's here; try not to zone out unless you want it stone cold with cobwebs, alright?" she joked.

"Ha ha," Jerry shot back dryly.

Despite his lack of gusto when teasing Kim, all thoughts of Jack were gone when he looked at the plate of food in front of him. He'd purposely left the pickles out so he wouldn't be reminded of last night at the barista, not much he could do about the fries, but he was starving...

About a half-hour later, Jerry was still working his way through his burger, and Kim had just started on her sundae. He couldn't think of anything to say to them, thankfully the burger provided an ample distraction. Until his phone buzzed in his pocket again.

He put the burger down and hesitantly checked his messages, this time the latter having a sender.

_From: Rudy_

_Message: Need to talk to you. I'm at HQ_

He shot a discreet glance at Kim and Milton, the two of them wrapped up in their own conversation, and quickly texted Rudy back.

_From: Jerry_

_Message: Be right there._

Jerry pushed his plate away from him, feinging a massive yawn and grabbing Kim and Milton's attention. "Sorry, guys, I've gotta go," he said apologectically, getting up out of the booth. "'S not like I'd be any fun tired anyway," he added with a weak chuckle.

"Go and get some sleep, okay?" Kim advised him, wrapping him in a warm hug, which Jerry accepted. "We'll see you at school tomorrow?" she asked, holding him at arms length.

"Sure," Jerry said with a smile. "Later, Milton." He held out a hand and the two boy's grasped each other's hands, Jerry turning around to leave, noticing Kim and Milton didn't sit back down until he left.

When he reached the slayers' Headquarters, Jerry found it to be quiet. _Unnervingly _quiet. Usually _someone_ would be around, but the place was deserted. Surely not everyone was out on a job? Rudy had to be here; why else would he text him? It didn't make any sense.

"Rudy?" he tried calling, raising his voice, but hearing nothing but a tinny echo. "You here? I got your message," he added, walking further into the building.

No-one was there.

Stranger still, computers were still left running, a spreadsheet of some sort was still printing, and freshly opened or brought items from the vending machines laid on several desks and counter tops. Jerry's confusion gave way to horror at the bloody trail leading from the room, and he turned on his heel and ran.

The only exit suddenly slammed shut, the lock clicking loudly.

Jerry felt a violent chill going down his back; he had no choice but to keep moving.

Swallowing his nerves, he steeled himself and walked towards the bloody trail, pushing the door open and gasping at the sight in front of him. Blood was _smeared_ all along the walls, large cracks in the plaster were still dripping with it and one shard of glass, jagged and ominous looking-

Was sticking straight out of Tyler's throat.

Jerry's heart was in his mouth; he rushed forwards, kneeling down beside Tyler's body. His eyes were bulged wide in fear, blood trickling from the side of his mouth and _covering_ his entire torso, pooling underneath him. What the Hell happened here?!

An eerie flickering out of the corner of his eye made Jerry spin around so fast he nearly toppled over into the pool of Tyler's blood. Curiously, he followed it, _swearing_ point blank that it wasn't his own shadow following him, and found a video camera, turned on its side and clean of all the blood that was painting the hallway.

The film was still playing; Jerry turned the camera over, trying not to drop it in horror at what was being looped on it again and again. Tyler was engaging in a struggle with a figure whose face Jerry couldn't make out, before being easily overpowered; his throat viciously being impaled onto the jagged shard of glass that had been the result of Tyler's head getting smashed through the window.

Static brought the film to an abrupt halt, and Jerry felt fear envelope his entire body. He wasn't alone, and whoever was here with him, knew that he knew. He forced himself, dropping the camera like it was scorching hot, to put one foot in front of the other, and kept walking.

Everywhere he stepped, every room he entered in search of the living, all he found was a terrifying canvas of blood and severely mutilated bodies, some recognisable as those of his friends, but some unrecognisable beyond belief.

The violent sound of wings flapping and a screech made Jerry spin around with a frightened cry, scrambling away and falling on his feet in the panic.

Mel's corpse was strung up on the wall, a metal pole jammed through her throat and wrists, pinning her there for all to see; see the gaping wound in her abdomen that was leaking out her intestines and other vital organs onto the ground with a monotonous dripping sound, but also the chilling message, daubed in blood above her head.

'I WARNED YOU I'D BE BACK'.

Eyes were suddenly on Jerry, he was _sure _of it. Taking a breath, he turned around, but nothing was there, except a shadow darting and flickering teasingly along the wall, before shooting off in the direction of another bloody trail.

Jerry was still forced to follow it.

His feet turned to clay and his blood ran cold. The main room was the worst of the whole building. Choking back a scream, Jerry gagged at the pungent smell of blood and iron filling his nose and mouth, the scent so strong it brought him to his knees. Completely at the mercy of whoever had just walked in the room behind him.

But whoever had, made no move to touch him, not even as he scrambled to his feet, trying to find his footing among the many mutilated bodies littering the floor. The door beside him swung open and Jerry eyed it cautiously, the other person in the room still not making themselves known.

He was about to break into a run at the door, when a voice resonated out in panic, "Jerry, don't, it's a trap!"

Jerry turned around, simultaneously sighing in relief and eyeing Rudy with confusion as he ran up to him.

"What are you talking abo-"

The sentence never left Jerry's mouth, and no response would have been _able_ to leave Rudy's; the figure, it's face obscured by the shadows, had appeared and swung a pick-axe through Rudy's chest, the man making strangled gurgling noises of pain, nothing coherent able to come out. Jerry reeled back in shock, slack-jawed.

Rudy was yanked backwards and a guttural _snarl_ sounded before his neck was crushed between an animalistic mouth, it's fingers on one hand reaching up and sinking themselves into Rudy's eyeballs, the fingers of its other hand wrenching his jaw wide open. Rudy's yells, as loud as the figure's fingers in his mouth and the pick-axe in his chest would allow, echoed through the building, seemingly shaking the very foundation of it.

There was a sickeningly squelch of flesh and crunch of bone as the figure _ripped_ Rudy's head in half, Jerry falling to his knees in shock in sync with Rudy's corpse, landing on several bodies, rooted still with the absolute shock of the figure's incredible strength. Quickly turning to one of them, he fumbled around, his eyes lighting up when his hands closed around a wooden stake that one of them had had with them.

Shakily, he got to his feet, brandishing the weapon. The figure didn't move, just stood in the shadows watching him, daring him to make a move, holding out his arms in a way that was eeriely familiar.

The figure started towards him and Jerry thrust the stake forwards, his wrist being seized in a terrific grip and twisted _hard_ until he let go of the stake with a yelp. He was thrown back on the floor as if he weighed nothing, the figure's chuckle floating through the room.

"You really don't think you can kill me, do you?" a silky voice purred tauntingly.

Jerry froze. He knew that voice anywhere, and he should have guessed...

_Jack Brewer._

He stepped forwards, finally visible. His face and clothes were stained with dark blood, his head tilted to the side and a sly smirk on his bloodied lips, slightly exposing the tips of his glinted fangs. Jerry's heartbeat sped up as Jack got closer to him, a frightened yell slipping from his mouth as the vampire effortlessly picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, his eyes cold and unfathomable.

"Not exactly the end your friends had planned," Jack chuckled darkly, gesturing to the many bodies around them both, "But I was never a stickler for the rules anyway," he informed him with quiet glee, a brief flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Ignoring him, Jerry tried to desperately pull Jack's hand from his hair, but his struggles were interrupted as razor sharp fangs punctured his neck and white hot pain shot through his entire body, forcing incoherent screams and pleads out of his mouth.

Jack reared back with a satisfied hiss, catching his breath and licking his lips. He shoved Jerry backwards and he collapsed onto the floor, swallowing hard and shakily pressing his hand over the large bite wound, blood already seeping down his neck and joining the dried stains on the floor.

In turn ignoring his whimpers of pain, Jack circled him menacingly, watching him closely, delighting in his suffering. Jerry was fading quicker and quicker as more blood pooled through his fingers, darkness was taking over.

A sudden kick to the back of his head from Jack's boot, then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? :) I hope I haven't lost all of you; I didn't like being away for so long, but exams for college took presence over writing and making videos and stuff, which sucks. :/**

**Either way, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter and will review with your thoughts. And shall we say over 25 for an update? Since I actually wanna know how many of you are sticking around. :)**

**So last time for anyone that's forgotten, Jack massacred the entire Slayers' division and now has a hold of Jerry.**

* * *

A loud groan of pain signaled Jerry's arrival back into the realm of consciousness. He was alive, at least.

His entire head was throbbing; he felt like he'd been hit by a freight train. And there was a vile, coppery taste of his own blood filling his mouth. He coughed it up and it spattered down his chin and onto his shirt.

He blinked to clear his hazy vision, and sat up with a sharp yell, abruptly smacking his head on a hard metal object. He stared ahead, seeing _Kim_, bloody and battered lying beside him, and his blood turned to ice. Belatedly, he realized both he and Kim were slumped against the back doors of a car, the engine purring softly from underneath them.

"All right back there?" a familiar voice asked, Jerry's eyes instantly darting to the source.

He saw Jack sat in the driver's seat, driving leisurely down the road. Jerry swallowed hard and he felt his entire body beginning to tremble. He couldn't even vaguely recognize anything that was rapidly passing the car by. Where was Jack taking him, and _what_ did he want from him?

Turning his attention back to Kim, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

She was gone. With no evidence she'd even been _in_ the car in the first place.

But... he _saw_ her. She was– What the Hell was going on?

He glared at the back of Jack's head, silently wondering if he was going insane from the shock of things, as he seemed far too blasé and chipper about the fact he had just kidnapped someone. But then, if he was content in slaughtering an entire division of Slayers – _God _he would never get those images out of his head – he doubted kidnap even registered on his moral compass.

Jerry twisted upright, wincing at the painful twinging in his wrist. He slumped tiredly against the door, the handle digging painfully into his back. He groaned loudly in exasperation; _how_ did he get himself into this mess?!

"Don't worry, I didn't break any bones or anything," Jack stated knowingly, turning around to face him. All the blood was now gone from his face and he was wearing fresh clothes.

"Where are we?" Jerry demanded heatedly, folding his arms.

He could see Jack's smirk in the rearview mirror. "Nowhere you'd know," he said with a shrug, turning a corner. "I could say I was taking you to safety and away from the 'horror of the massacre', but I'd be lying," he added in a much sinister tone.

"Yes, because vampires are absolute saints, aren't they?" he shot back angrily, feeling braver than he actually felt. He knew Jack had done it on purpose; isolated him from everything he knew so he'd have no choice but to depend on him.

"At what point did I say I was?" Jack asked rhetorically, his eyes briefly flashing red, smiling dangerously.

Jerry's nostrils flared in frustration. "_Hijo de puta..._" he muttered distastefully under his breath.

"_Cuide su lenguaje_," Jack reprimanded him almost instantly, causing Jerry's eyebrows to fly up in surprise. He felt uneasy to know he shared a language with a vampire.

Jack was either secretly enjoying his discomfort, or really was oblivious – which Jerry doubted very highly – as he didn't say anything in response; just pulled up alongside a gas station, turning the engine off.

Jack turned around to face him. "You want anything?" he asked.

"Yeah, a wooden stake," Jerry muttered bitterly, the whole domesticity of the situation making him want to vomit.

"I don't think they sell steak in gas stations, Jerry," Jack said with a smirk on his face, screwing up his face in mock thought as if he was really trying to come up with an answer.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Jerry retorted dryly.

Jack got out of the car, all traces of a smile leaving his face and being replaced with a look completely devoid of any emotion, and locked the door behind him, trapping Jerry inside as he strolled into the gas station.

As soon as the door to the gas station shut behind Jack, Jerry let his sarcastic facade shatter and a wave of utter terror washed over him; he had been _kidnapped_. He had heard stories all the time about it happening on the news, but he never once dreamed it would ever happen to him. He swallowed hard at the thought of what Jack actually wanted with him, then he shuddered, all of them too vile to let himself think of.

He _had_ to get out of here.

"_Help me..._" a quiet voice pleaded from beside him, Jerry's eyes widening in shock at what he saw as he turned around.

His _mother_ had taken Kim's place; she was bruised and beaten, her throat slashed all the way across – a god-awful reminder of that dream – and blood pooled down her clothes and onto the car seat.

"Mum?" Jerry asked hesitantly, feeling sick as he reached out a hand to touch her.

But before his hand even made contact, his mother flickered like a broken light and vanished into thin air, like Kim before her, and leaving no evidence that she had been there at all.

"What the–?!"

Jerry rubbed his temples, sighing heavily. _What_ was going on with him?

Turning his attention back to escaping the car, he looked out of the windows, seeing that the road expanded as far forwards as it did backwards. His only means of escape were the gas station – where Jack was – or the forest over the other side of the road. Neither seemed very appealing to him, but both had to be better than waiting for Jack to come back.

He eyed the window and gritted his teeth. He got onto his knees and leaned against the car door, bending his elbow, pulling back and levelling all the strength he could muster into the window.

Pain throbbed hotly up and down his entire arm as colorful expletives poured from his mouth. He bit his lip and looked towards the gas station; he could see Jack in deep conversation with a woman – _Charismatic bastard_, Jerry thought to himself – and thankfully seemed completely oblivious.

_Alright, Plan B,_ Jerry thought to himself, laying on his back. Again and again and _again_ he kicked his feet against the window, yelling in a mixture of shock and pain as the window splintered into pieces and his ankle banged heavily on the window frame.

He didn't even stop to look behind him to see if Jack was coming out of the gas station; he scrambled to his feet and launched himself out of the tiny window space. He landed heavily on his back, feeling a sharp, shooting pain in his neck. He put his hand up to it, coming away with hot, sticky blood coating his fingers.

His heart was beating so fast he could feel it in his mouth. But he threw all caution to the wind and _ran_ as fast as his legs could physically carry him; through the on-coming storm of traffic and into the dense thicket of the forest. His throat was burning as he collapsed on the ground, struggling to catch his breath.

"Damn..." he breathed out, nursing the pulsating cramp in his sides. He swallowed hard and tried desperately to catch his breath.

An uneasy chill streaked down his backbone, and he looked around, realising that everything around him looked exactly the same. He had no clue where he was, and in his frightened state, every tree looked like a shadow of someone out to get him.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out his phone, his heart sinking as he couldn't find a signal and realized his battery was rapidly draining. This was it, he was going to die out here, scared and alone, and no-one would find his body, and no-one would know what became of him.

Jerry hauled himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off of him. He supposed he could go back to the edge of the road – or at the very least try and find it – and flag down a car, but what on Earth would he say to–

The harsh sound of a twig snapping interrupted his thoughts, and Jerry instantly whirled around to find the source, yelling in shock as he saw a mutilated version of Milton stood in front of him. His mouth was opening in a soundless scream as his eyes were being gouged at by invisible hands.

Jerry screamed in horror, turning around to run and freezing in his tracks as another vision of his mother flickered to life in front of him. His head darted wildly between the two apparitions, his heart pounding in fear.

"Jerry..." they sang, the sound blending into a horrifying distortion.

"No, you're not here!" he cried out, darting off in the opposite direction, wanting to get away from them and that god-awful growling sound he could _swear_ that was coming from behind him.

He ran through twists and turns, not even caring that he was blatantly lost in the middle of a forest, refusing to look back in case he caught another sight of... whatever those things were.

Falling against a tree to catch his breath, Jerry could hear that same low growling sound again. He wasn't sure of the name of the force that possessed him to turn around, his heart lurching and his blood turning to ice at the source of the growling.

It was a wolf.

It was fairly large, and Jerry would've already been edging away from it at the sight of his fang-like teeth if his feet hadn't already turned to clay, with silver and auburn fur and piercing blue eyes that were intently watching him. Probably thinking of all the way it could devour him alive.

Jerry felt sick as he remembered the dried blood on his neck and hand. He slowly backed away, refusing to break eye-contact with the creature, the wolf looking positively enthralled at his fear. Its eyes never once left him.

He was rooted to the spot as the wolf roared at him, his fear completely paralyzing him, leaping forwards into the air. Jerry snapped his eyes shut, waiting for the snapping of bones and the tearing of flesh.

But it never came.

Instead he was pinned tightly up against a tree, with a hand – a very_ human_ hand – resting on his throat; not crushing his bones, just lightly holding him. He opened his eyes in confusion, immediately wanting to close them again as he came face to face with Jack.

"Gotcha," he chuckled to himself, seeming to calm for Jerry's liking.

"What the Hell?!" Jerry looked around wildly for any sign of the wolf, realising the creature was lurking in Jack's eyes. But, how was that possible?

Jack's smirk was absolutely infuriating; Jerry wanted to smash it, and _him_, into pieces. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd stay inside the car," he said gleefully, his eyes twinkling dangerously.

Jerry's jaw clenched and his blood boiled. Jack set the whole thing up? He couldn't contain his anger and launched himself at him, catching Jack completely off-guard. He rained blows down on his face, again and again, his adrenaline pumping enough to get him to ignore the throbbing pain in his hand.

Jack's face soon became a broken, bloodied mass, and he lay there motionless as Jerry – still kneeling on top of him – fought to catch his breath.

Jack's eyes snapped open, now a blazing red, and Jerry caught a glimpse of his fangs before he was seized around his throat, and thrown backwards towards a tree as Jack got to his feet.

Jerry cried out as he landed _hard_ on every branch as he fell through the air, before one splintered off under his weight and sent him hurtling to the ground. He landed on his back with a thud, gritting his teeth and rolling off the stake so he could pick up.

Jack looked at him with raised eyebrows – Jerry's lip curling in a frustrated snarl as Jack's skin began sewing itself back together – not even giving Jerry a chance to charge him this time, pinning him up against the tree, but before he could get his hands around his throat, Jerry plunged the stake into the fleshy area under his collarbone.

Jack didn't even _flinch_.

Blood surged into Jerry's mouth as Jack thrust his knee up into his stomach, his body crumpling enough for Jack to smash a dizzying blow into his face. His vision spun above him, his lip splitting, as Jack lifted him up by his shirt.

He took the only option left open to him; he opened his mouth and _screamed_.

Jack's sinister laughter echoed in his ears, then there was a sharp, searing pain at his neck as Jack tore into his flesh, his own horrifying screams echoing in his ears; the screeching wails of his mother and friends all blending together and transforming the sound into a murderous cacophony.

He crumpled to the ground, unable to move or speak as Jack's predatory mouth loomed above him, his own blood dripping onto his face.

"Upsy-daisy," he murmured, snickering and lifting Jerry up over his shoulder.

He was fading in and out of consciousness as Jack carried him back through the forest, back towards his car. He was running hot and cold and his entire body was numb. He felt himself being placed back inside the car, and it sped off down the road.

As more and more blood pooled on the seat under him, Jerry was met with total darkness.

* * *

Jerry awoke to near-total darkness around him. He groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead as he laid still. He could vaguely see the outline of the early morning peeking out from behind closed curtains.

It hurt him to move; hurt him to _breathe_. His throat was painfully dry, his chest was burning and his neck was sore. His face was burning hot, yet the room around him was _freezing_.

"Someone's a heavy sleeper," a voice said in amusement, Jerry practically being able to _hear _the smirk on Jack's lips, even though he couldn't see him.

The room was suddenly flooded with bright light and Jerry's hands flew up to his eyes reflexively, squinting through the gaps in his fingers until his eyes adjusted.

The room around him was completely bare, stripped of any possessions, save a small bed Jerry was currently cramped onto, and a tray with some food and water on it. Jack was watching him from the doorway as he studied his reflection in the mirror across from him.

His eyes were hollowed in darkness and he looked deathly pale. Dried blood was smeared all over his neck and cracking over his lips and nostrils. He barely recognized the person he was looking at.

He swung his legs around and sat up, watching Jack carefully as he stepped into the room. "Where are we?" he asked in confusion.

"Little place on the edge of Seaford," Jack said with a shrug, "Funny thing is, if you'd kept running in the forest and didn't stop to gawk at wolves, you could've made it back home," he added with a vicious grin, his eyes glinting maliciously.

_Of course I could have_, Jerry thought sardonically to himself, folding his arms a little petulantly. His means of escape had really been right in front of him, and he hadn't known it.

"How did you even do that, anyway?" Jerry asked in surprise. He had never heard of a vampire able to turn into something else entirely before.

"Learned," Jack said simply, his lips quirking in a small smile, "A lot of vampires can do it, they just don't realise they can," he added, making a face as he mulled the idea over in his head. It just made Jerry wonder what else he could turn into if he wanted.

An uneasy silence formed between the two of them as Jack was unable to tear his eyes away from the blood smeared on Jerry's neck, the vampire breaking it as he said, "You should get that stitched up."

He then moved forwards, Jerry scrambling back in shock as he caught sight of a needle in between Jack's fingers. No _way_ was he getting near him with that thing.

"Don't you trust me?" Jack asked as he sat on the edge of the bed – Jerry folding his feet under his legs to avoid contact with him – placing a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some thread between the two of them.

"_No_," Jerry stated in a cold hiss, his own voice sounding foreign to him.

Jack was unmoved, and smiled. "Good thing I know what I'm doing then, isn't it?"

Sighing, Jerry moved slightly closer to Jack, watching him extremely carefully as he threaded the needle with ease, and moved it closer towards his neck. He bit his lip as the needle penetrated his flesh.

Tears were forming behind Jerry's eyes as Jack continued sewing the skin together, occasionally stopping to touch it lightly with his forefinger to check the stitching was secure, and he struggled to stay still. He was waiting for the moment where Jack 'accidentally' slipped and stabbed into an important artery.

Jerry winced as Jack fully pulled the needle from his skin, slicing it free with his nail. He put the needle down and Jerry turned to briefly look at it in the mirror; for a savage killer, he had done a fairly good job.

Jack then set about dabbing the dried blood away – his eyes occasionally flashing red as he inhaled – and he picked up the bandages, biting off a piece with his teeth. He began pouring a generous amount of rubbing alcohol onto the bandage.

He went to press it onto Jerry's skin, but then doubled back. "Might sting a bit," he warned, Jerry barely having time to process his words before he touched the bandage to his wound.

Jerry yelped, jerking away and smacking Jack's hand back, inhaling sharply as the area throbbed uncontrollably. He swore under his breath, while Jack looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Be grateful it isn't worse," he said in consolation, "I could have been doing this to you in the Middle Ages," he added as an afterthought, Jerry dreading to think about what that would look like. He had seen enough gruesome pictures in History to scar him for life.

Eventually, Jerry let Jack press the bandage over his wound, holding it in place for him as he snipped off a few pieces of tape and stuck them to the bandage and his skin, anchoring it safely in place.

"There, all done," he said brightly, getting up and taking his makeshift medical supplies with him.

Jerry got up and stretched his arms, feeling cramped from where he had been on that bed for god-knows how long. Jack was watching him in amusement, twirling the needle between his fingers.

Jerry waited until he was almost at the door before asking, "What am I doing here?"

Jack turned around, tilting his head and studying him with a finger resting on his chin almost playfully: "Haven't quite decided yet," he admitted after a slightly pause, "I could either kill you for knowing too much about vampires, or because you tried to kill me twice now" –

– "I barely got a hit in!" Jerry interjected incredulously, throwing his hands up in the air.

– "Or I could just wipe your memory so you don't remember me," Jack said, shrugging as if he was really contemplating on doing it, and Jerry would _not_ be complaining. "But neither of those sound very appealing," he remarked.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Jerry asked in frustration, "Just wait here in this room until you make your mind up? Because _that_ doesn't sound very appealing," he added, mocking his earlier words.

"I honestly don't give a damn what you do," Jack said bluntly, and he turned to leave, but before he was out the door, he popped his head back in, leaning on the doorframe, "Although I wouldn't try and escape, because you won't even get as far as the doorstep," he said, winking at him before disappearing completely.

The door closed behind him and a frown instantly plastered itself to Jerry's face. He crossed the room and pulled the curtain open, staring out into the world below; it was a gated community and the house he was currently in had a padlocked gate towering around the perimeter. Even if he had, by some miracle, managed to get past Jack, he would still be trapped.

How the Hell had he got himself wrapped up in all this?

A few hours later, Jerry had decided that he wasn't going to mope around in the tiny room, and was having a look in several of the rooms. He had no idea of where Jack was, but he wasn't worried about getting caught; Jack himself had said he didn't give a damn as long as he didn't try and go anywhere.

He found another room, opening the door and furrowing his brows as the windows in there were again, taped up with cardboard. He flicked on the light to have a better look around; he was in a Master bedroom by the look of things, and there were several photos on the vanity.

He went over to one and picked it up, seeing a family of five – two smiling women with their arms around their son and daughter and a dog sitting happily beside them – beaming back at him. It made Jerry feel sick thinking about where they were now. He hoped they were just away on holiday, but he doubted it, as Jack was able to walk past the threshold to get him in here.

Putting the picture down with a heavy sigh, Jerry turned around, trying to find something to occupy himself, and prevent himself from going downstairs to where Jack was no doubt lurking.

"You really are a complete idiot, aren't you, Jerry?" a harsh voice said smarmily, making Jerry whirl around.

It was the same vision of Milton as in the forest, only instead of a look of fear, his face was contorted into an ugly mix of hate that made Jerry wince internally.

"I've no idea what he sees in you, y'know," it went on, pacing around and folding its arms, "Any 'game' he wanted to play with you would probably last about forty-five seconds with the size of your brain," he joked, his laugh transforming into a deranged roar.

Jerry grimaced and closed his eyes, shaking his head and willing it to go away.

It worked. When he opened his eyes, he was alone. He left the room as quickly as he could, heading back towards the one Jack had kept him in – at least there was some food and water in there – only this time, he heard Kim's voice hurling vitriol at him. He refused to turn around, he _wouldn't_.

He slammed the door behind him as he entered the room, Kim's insults dissolving into nothing.

"You aren't gonna be able to do anything by just standing there, idiot," 'Milton' hissed from behind him, Jerry gritting his teeth as he wasn't even going to offer it the courtesy of a response.

His mother then flickered into view in front of him, a disappointed look on her face, "I thought I raised a brighter son than _this_," she said in disdain, chuckling to herself as she looked around the small room.

Jerry bit his lip, his gut churning uneasily. "Stop it..." he said, his voice tapering off into a pathetic whisper.

"Why should we?" Kim snorted incredulously as _'she'_ appeared alongside 'Milton'. "We don't care," it added harshly.

"I'm glad you're gonna be dead within a week," Milton chipped in with a laugh, "No more annoying yapping in my ears," he added.

"Or having to pretend to be a friend to a wannabe bad-boy," Kim sneered back at him.

Picking up the glass of water, Jerry hurled it violently in the visions' direction, Kim's moving out the way so it smashed against the wall. His Mum's vision suddenly changed and she broke down sobbing and screaming, while Kim's face began contorting into a horrific view in front of him.

"Shut up!" Jerry screamed nonsensically, crouching down and pressing his hands over his ears.

The door clicked open and Jerry stood up at the sight of Jack's boots walking into his frame of vision. He looked around the room, for once thankful that Jack was the only one there with him.

"You alright in here?" he asked, Jerry's perception becoming severely messed up as he could no longer tell whether the concern on Jack's face was a mask or genuine, "Thought I heard voices," he added.

Jerry narrowed his eyes at him. "How are you doing that?!" he demanded, folding his arms.

"Doing what?" Jack asked in bewilderment, sounding so innocent that it actually sounded like the truth. Jerry didn't know what the Hell to believe.

"You know exactly what!" Jerry yelled in annoyance.

Jack's face was an infuriating canvas of amusement. "Do I?" he asked, smirking in a way that asked Jerry to try and prove it.

The doorbell rang, making Jack roll his eyes with a sour expression. He left the room and headed down the stairs. Jerry's curiosity piqued, he followed him.

"I'm surprised you have any friends that would want to visit you," he said snarkily.

He saw the corners of Jack's mouth twitch in a smirk, but he didn't say anything back. He just went up to the door and looked through the peephole. His demeanor suddenly changed; his back straightened and as he turned towards him, his eyes flashed red.

Rushing forward in a blur of air, Jerry was immediately grabbed around the throat, his hands reflexively going around Jack's wrist to try and pry him off. What was going on?

"What are you–?"

Jack locked eyes with him, stopping him from speaking, and Jerry's mind went blank.

"_Stay hidden, don't make a sound or even so much as _move_ until I say otherwise._"

Jack dropped him to the floor, and Jerry found himself walking towards the living room, completely out of control of his actions, like he was a puppet and Jack was the puppet master. He screamed at himself to stop, but his feet kept moving until he was in the living room and rooted behind a screen in front of the fireplace.

The door opened and Jerry strained his ears to hear the conversation. Jerry couldn't even look out the window to see a car; Jack had closed those curtains too.

"Can I help you?" Jack asked the visitor in a polite tone that didn't suit him at all.

"I had a phone call regarding suspicious activity at this address," a deeper voice responded, and Jerry smiled. Maybe he would be his chance out of here. "I was wondering if I could come in and take a look around?" the man asked.

"Don't you need a warrant for that?" Jack asked, and Jerry could picture him raising an eyebrow as he contemplated a human, who he thought beneath him, trying to intrude on him.

"People who usually say that have something to hide," the man shot back, and Jerry really wanted to call out to him, run, do _something_, but he was firmly rooted to the spot no matter what he did.

"I just don't appreciate people thinking they can waltz in and go through my stuff," Jack said bluntly.

"So no," he went on harshly, "You're not coming in," he said, and it sounded like he attempted to close the door on the man, but he jammed his foot in the way.

"I wasn't asking," the man said sternly, "It's routine procedure," he added briskly.

He heard Jack sigh heavily as he no doubt had to give in to avoid further suspicion. "Alright, come on in," he said, in a much more inviting tone.

Through the slightly transparent front of the screen, Jerry could see Jack and the man walking into the living room.

"So who exactly made the phone call?" Jack asked him, hands in his pockets, having a somewhat youthful innocence to him that had long since left him.

"I can't disclose that information," the man said with a shake of his head.

As they crossed into the living room, Jack grabbed his sleeve and locked eyes with him, the man going still.

"_Yes you can_," he said in that soft monotone he had used on Jerry earlier.

The man's face was blank as his lips moved of their own accord: "A concerned neighbor. She saw you carrying a body out from your car."

"_What's her name?_" Jack pressed.

"Sadie Hopkins," he revealed, and Jerry could see the smirk forming on Jack's mouth as he was no doubt planning on tearing her to shreds.

The man suddenly shook his head, pulling himself out of his daze. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, before he asked Jack, "Why did I just tell you that?"

"Because I told you to," Jack said with a shrug, the man nodding with a look of confusion, "You can have a look around, but you won't find anything," he said knowingly.

Jerry gritted his teeth in frustration; his chance of rescue was literally _three feet _away from him – completely oblivious to him – and he couldn't move or speak.

"So who was that you were carrying?" the man asked as the two of them came to a stop in the center of the living room.

"My sister's kid," Jack lied almost instantly, Jerry surprised at how easily it had come to him, "He was at a party; bit of a lightweight," he added with a chuckle, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Jack's face then became void of emotion, making Jerry's gut churn as he turned back towards the man.

"He's behind the screen, if you wanna grab him," he said with a smile.

The man regarded him with utter confusion. Jack shot Jerry a nasty glare and suddenly jerked forwards, _ripping_ the man's hands off from his body. A howling yell filled the room and Jerry's eyes widened in horror and his mouth opening in a soundless scream.

"Although with _what_, I don't know," Jack laughed wildly, eyes reddening as thick, dark blood spurted uncontrollably from the stumps on the man's hands. The poor man's screams didn't even sound human anymore. Neither did Jack's laughter.

Jack threw his hands on the floor, just out of his reach, and then punched him to the ground, a vicious smirk on his lips. "Fetch," he said, gesturing forwards invitingly while the man turned _white_. He was amused by his own sick joke; Jerry wanted to vomit.

"You can come out now, Jerry!" he called to him, and Jerry – finding he was now able to move – rushed out from behind the screen, staring down at the man as he writhed in pain.

"What are you doing to him?" he asked in horror. How could someone be so devoid of emotion and _evil?_

"Teaching him not to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong," Jack said through gritted teeth. He brought his boot down hard enough onto the man's leg to snap it cleanly in half, a loud yell flying from his mouth. Jerry felt sick as he was powerless to stop it. If Jack wanted this man dead, he was _dead_, no questions about it.

The man was then gripped in Jack's hands, his head lolling as Jack's fangs extended from his mouth. He roared, darting forwards and sinking them into his throat, drinking and snarling voraciously.

Jerry had to turn his head away at the sickening squelch of flesh.

"Lesson learned," Jack said with a bloody grin, licking his lips in sick pleasure.

Jerry lurched to the side, hand flying up to his mouth as his stomach swirled. "_Puto bastardo enfermo!_" he screamed at him.

"Thank you," Jack smirked at him, quirking his eyebrows. "That's very sweet of you," he said in a falsely sweet voice, batting his eyelashes playfully.

"You do realise he's gonna..." Jerry had to pause to swallow down the bile that was threatening to explode out of his throat, "Have people that come looking for him, don't you?" he asked.

"And so will I," he went on, looking up at Jack, "Might as well give it up and let me go home," he finished, trying desperately to not let his voice shake as he was staring Jack down, but _God_ he just caught sight of the man's head...

Jack let out a merry sounding laugh that didn't suit him. "I'm not scared of anyone knocking on the door," he smirked, walking towards Jerry, who simultaneously walked backwards to avoid him, "Or whoever's supposed to be rescuing you," he added with a nasty glare.

"I mean, I know about Kim and Milton, but what's the most they could do?" Jack asked incredulously, the idea of them saving Jerry seeming ridiculous to him, "Talk my ear off?" he added with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"You're not going anywhere, anyway," Jack said simply, shrugging his shoulder while Jerry glared at him. He had no idea it was physically possible to hate someone so much. "So you may as well just sit and relax," he said with a light smile.

Jerry let out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding as Jack stepped away from him. "And how am I supposed to do that while there's a psycho vampire lurking around?" he asked emphatically, folding his arms.

"That's for you to figure out." Jack patted him on the shoulder, Jerry immediately slapping it away. "I've got a body to burn," he said nonchalantly, bending down.

Jerry grimaced as he picked up the man's torso and put it under his arm, kicking his head up into his hand like it was a goddamned soccer ball. He left without sparing him a glance, leaving the hands on the carpet like discarded rubbish.

Swallowing nervously, Jerry stared at the lone hands still on the ground. He had to get out of here –– before that happened to him.

* * *

High-pitched yelling and screaming echoed loudly inside Jerry's head and he cupped his hands over his ears, trying to block them all out, but they refused to go anywhere. He was going insane, he knew it. Never mind _Jack_ killing him, the voices seemed to be trying to get him to do it himself.

He had no idea how long it had been going on for; he was slowly losing all sense of time, and his _sanity_.

"Leave me _alone!_" he screamed pleadingly, his pleas seemingly answered as he opened his eyes again and was met with an empty room.

He sighed in relief, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, and opened the door, reeling back in shock as he caught sight of a mutilated specter of his mother blocking the doorway. She opened her mouth in a piercing shriek; Jerry raced past her out into the hallway.

Running down the stairs, he jumped the last few and collided into the door as he kept going. He pulled at the door, the handle refusing to budge.

He looked down at it to see a padlock wrapped tightly around it. "_No..._" he said in dismay, tugging at it fruitlessly.

"C'mon!" He smacked the door angrily in frustration, his hand throbbing in pain, Kim's mocking laughter bouncing around his mind.

He tore away from the door and raced into the kitchen, grabbing a knife and brandishing it in front of him as all three visions – each seeming more ghastly than the next – advanced on him, threatening to engulf him.

"Awww, don't do that," Kim cooed at him, tilting her head to the side, her grin _literally_ splitting her face open. "We wanna play," she giggled childishly.

"I don't."

The knife sliced through the air as it left Jerry's fingers in an enraged toss, going straight through the vision of Kim and embedding itself in the wall opposite him. Reaching up and fisting his hair, he screamed out in frustration and turned and ran, crying and struggling as strong arms encased him.

"No, get off me!" He kept screaming, refusing to be quiet, and punching and hitting out blindly. He just wanted this to _stop_.

"Jerry," a soft voice called to him as he kept struggling, "It's okay," it reassured him, Jerry eventually calming down and looking up into Jack's concerned face.

"Can you see them?" he asked, slightly out of breath, his throat raw from the screaming.

Jack looked around the kitchen and his eyes narrowed. "Who?" he asked in confusion.

Jerry buried his head into Jack's chest. "Stop lying to me," he pleaded in earnest, "_Please_ stop lying to me," he begged, on the verge of tears.

"Who do _you_ see?" Jack asked him, Jerry feeling his hands comfortingly stroke his hair. Although deep in the pit of his stomach, he could still feel a coldness there.

"My Mum," he said with a swallow, "Kim, Milton, they're all..." he trailed off, tears finally leaking from his eyes as he burrowed into Jack's chest again.

"Shhh..." Jack whispered, and Jerry just let himself cry and shake in his arms, "You'll be okay," he murmured comfortingly, running his hands through his hair.

"You'll be okay."

When the words left Jack's mouth, it was like something literally _lifted_ from Jerry's shoulders; all the fear, paranoia and confusion ebbed away almost instantly, and the feeling of relief being in Jack's arms and not one of those visions being replaced by confusion and shock, as reality reared its ugly head at him.

He shoved at Jack violently, and he stumbled away with an amused look of surprise on his face, holding in laughter.

"It _was_ you!" he said accusatorily, feeling overwhelmed with the amount of pure _anger_ rushing through him. He angrily scrubbed the tears away from his eyes.

"Of course it was," Jack said without so much as a pause, smirking at him evilly.

"How did you even–"

"I can get inside your head," Jack said bluntly, cutting him off, "Any time I want, and there's nothing you can do about it," he gloated, his eyes glimmering mischievously, raising Jerry's ire further, "There's nothing that can keep me out, either," he added knowingly, a smug look about him.

"Prick..." Jerry muttered harshly, no word he could think of was able to describe Jack.

Jack laughed at his pathetic insult, seeming strangely chipper. "D'you want some dinner?" he asked off-handedly, and Jerry then realized there was a plate of food on the table behind him.

He wasn't entirely sure he had heard him right. Did he just ask him if he...? "Huh?" he asked, then it registered in his mind what Jack had really asked, "No, I don't want any–Why _would _I?" he asked in disbelief, his eyes narrowing as he shook his head.

"Because you're human," Jack offered with a shrug, like he _hadn't _just told him he had been messing with his head all day, "Because it might make you feel better," he tried again, although he didn't seem bothered if Jerry was actually going to tell him to fuck off.

"You are _fucked_ up, you know that?" Jerry said angrily, Jack looking like he was trying to contain his laughter, "Mess with my mind and then offer me dinner?" he wondered if it was some new plan he had cooked up – no pun intended – but he couldn't understand what Jack would have accomplished by it, and he knew he didn't have to worry about it being poisoned, since Jack had made it clear he wasn't going to kill him.

"Well, I know food always makes me feel better," Jack offered as an answer, "All right, not _this type_" – he broke off to gesture at the food on the table – "but you know what I mean," he finished, waving him off.

"Do you want some or not?" he asked again, giving Jerry a small smile.

Jerry bit the inside of his cheek. Fuck him, fuck his screwed up sense of generosity, fuck his amazing looking cooking, and fuck him a fourth time because Jerry actually felt himself moving towards the table as it won him over.

While he stared at the pasta on his plate – for someone who didn't _need_ to eat, Jerry had to admit he was quite a good cook – Jerry felt Jack's eyes on him. He was surprised at how hungry he actually felt, but he didn't want to eat anything, since then Jack would win.

"You do know the whole 'Sup with the Devil and you will become one' is a load of crap, right?" Jack said out of the blue.

"What?" Jerry asked in confusion.

"Well, people used to think that drinking a vampire's blood would turn them, and that we'd often try it at dinner parties by slipping it in the food."

As soon as the words left Jack's mouth, Jerry stopped chewing and looked at him uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I think I made that one up just to scare people," Jack said with a smirk, raising his glass and downing some water.

His face then lit up playfully. "Or, there was this weird one in the Middle Ages – which I had no part of – where apparently having sex with one turned you," he explained, and Jerry's face became a mix of bewilderment and held-in laughter. "If that was true..." Jack trailed off, chuckling to himself.

"Well how were you turned?" Jerry wondered out loud, Jack turning to him, "Aren't you like the first or something?" he said quickly as he realized he'd voiced his thoughts without meaning too.

Jack swallowed his mouthful. "Second, actually," he admitted.

Jerry had to stop his jaw from dropping to the ground. "You mean there's someone older and stronger than you running around out there?!" Now _that_ was a terrifying thought.

"There was," Jack corrected him.

Jerry's brows furrowed. "But you just said that–"

"I killed her," Jack said coldly, sounding so callous about the matter. "Poor sap actually thought I loved her," he added in amusement. Once again, Jerry felt sick at his bluntness.

"Why did she turn you?" he asked, his food momentarily forgotten, surprised he was really curious about the past of a monster. "And how was _she_ turned?" he wondered, all the scenarios in his head seeming too ridiculous. He didn't believe that a vampire just _spawned_ out of nowhere.

"I can't really remember that far back, I must've been dying or something," he said, seeming at a loss to explain it himself, "It was definitely several thousand years ago now, I remember that much," he added, confusion becoming evident on his face, before he shook it off.

"How can you tell?" Jerry pressed. He had trouble remembering what he had for _dinner_ most days.

"I can remember the evolution from Latin to English, and I remember having lunch with Cleopatra once," he said, briefly looking off as if he was lost in his thoughts. As much as he despised Jack, Jerry had to – begrudgingly – admit that _that_ was impressive.

"And how my sire was turned, I don't know; she could've been a witch and wanted to live forever or something," he shrugged, just as much in the dark about the subject as anyone would be, "Might've wanted some extra advantages through life as well," he guessed.

"Witches exist?!" Jerry blurted out in shock.

Jack rolled his eyes with a fond smile. "You're having dinner with a vampire that says he's met an Egyptian Queen and _that_ surprises you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Jack returned to his food and Jerry sighed, twiddling his fork between his fingers. What was he doing? He shook his head and turned to Jack, his eyes boring into his face.

"You do know it isn't gonna work, right?" he stated plainly.

Jack looked up at him. "What?" he asked, spooning some pasta into his mouth.

"Whatever _this_ is," he said incredulously, gesturing to the table.

"Whatever game you're playing?" Jerry went on, Jack leaning back in his chair and feigning interest, "You ain't gonna break me," he declared defiantly, feeling much more sure of himself than he actually felt.

Jack didn't respond; the corner of his lip curved into a smirk and he nodded slowly at him, watching as Jerry reluctantly returned to the food in front of him. Jerry knew he was just waiting until he was broken, shattering into pieces.

A canvas he could remake and mold into anything he wanted.

A deadly silence swept over the room before Jack finally offered a response: "Then you've clearly never played with a vampire."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugh, I'm so sorry it took me forever to get this chapter out. Whenever I thought I had a spare moment to sit and write, I either had a mock exam or shedloads of coursework to hand in. But here we finally are, and I hope you all had a good christmas (those who celebrate anyway).**

**And a HUGE thank you to everyone who's reviewed and stuck around during my absence, it really means a lot that people are still reading and enjoying my work, and I hope to have you all there until the end (which doesn't look like it's gonna happen any time soon ;))**

**So to recap this chapter, Jerry's still Jack's captive, and the gauntlet has basically been thrown down. :) Read, review**––**shall we say over 35?**––**enjoy, and I'll see you all next time, hopefully much sooner than last time.**

**Slight trigger warning for the beginning of the chapter if anyone really isn't good with gore.**

* * *

_"Then you've clearly never played with a vampire."_

The sentence played on repeat, over and over in Jerry's head, churning until it became a queasy mantra and made him nauseous. What had he done to become Public Enemy No. 1 of a deadly vampire other than inadvertently had coffee with him? He knew he'd drive himself crazy trying to figure out an acceptable 'why' when there clearly wasn't one. Jack had ripped off a man's hands purely for his own amusement; he was a deadly enigma alright.

Dinner passed in a strangely comfortable silence, but Jerry had been anything but; he couldn't shake the queasy feeling in his stomach, like this was all just the beginning. And such thoughts didn't leave him even in sleep, making him toss and turn all night, only to wake up and praying everything was a nightmare.

Jerry frowned as his sleepy vision cleared. He wasn't in that bare room Jack had originally stuck him in, he was in a room filled with many more possessions and the bed didn't feel like it was stuffed with straw or newspapers. He deduced it as the room of the boy in the family photo he had seen yesterday, and instantly felt restless, getting up and leaving the room, coming to stand in the hallway.

Like his brain was working without the consent of his body, Jerry started walking down the stairs, thinking that maybe he could watch TV or something. God only knew what Jack did to entertain himself all day, but when he stopped dead in the doorway to the living room, Jerry had an answer he really didn't want.

A man and a woman––both joggers or athletes from the look of them––were unconscious, at least Jerry hoped they were, and strung up by their ankles from crude hooks nailed into the ceiling. Jack was busy covering the carpet in a thick plastic sheet and arranging two large four-pint jugs under the heads of the man and woman.

"Morning, Jerry, sleep well?" Jack asked, without looking up from his current task, "I was gonna put you in the daughters room––bigger bed, but I didn't think you'd appreciate waking up surrounded by pink," he said with a light chuckle.

"What are you doing?" Jerry asked with slightly widened eyes, looking from the suspended couple to Jack, then back to the couple again.

"What does it look like?" Jack asked rhetorically, giving him a lightly exasperated look, splaying out his arms, "I'm draining people for their blood," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Something about the jugs caught his eye and he frowned, getting on his knees again to re-adjust them.

"Don't you have fangs for that?" Jerry asked with a grimace, trying not to stare despite his morbid curiosity that was creeping him out.

"Obviously," Jack said with a knowing snort, standing back up when he was satisfied, "But when you find O Negative blood, best to save it," he said, Jerry deciding he was just going to have to take Jack's word for it.

"_Please_ tell me that's not why I'm here..." Jerry said nervously, edging away slightly.

There was a predatory gleam in Jack's eyes as he sped over to him, stopping close enough for Jerry's nostrils to be clouded by some old spice smell coming off of him.

"Why, are you offering?" he asked with a wink, flashing his fangs.

As Jerry shifted uncomfortably, Jack let out a laugh, patting him 'gently' on the cheek: "Nah, you're AB negative," he said in what he thought was reassurance, "Bit bitter, if you ask me," he added, turning around and walking back over to the suspended couple.

"Don't think that's accidental," Jerry shot back under his breath, Jack chuckling like he heard him.

A sharp gasp from the male made Jerry jump out of his skin. Jack gave him a sly smile.

"You didn't think they were dead, did you?" Jack said incredulously as the man was starting to groggily take in his bearings, struggling when he realised He turned to the unit the TV was resting on and picked up a sharp looking knife.

At that, the man started to panic even more, struggling against his tight bindings, yelling a hoarse, "Look, just please let us go!" at a nonchalant-looking Jack, Jack's index fingernail extending to a long, sharp point, "My wife is pregn–"

The man's protest was cut short as Jack sliced his extended nail into his throat, gurgling as his thick blood streamed down his face, clogging his mouth and nostrils as it flowed into the jug below him. A hysterical screech from the woman signalled her arrival back into the land of the living. Although she wouldn't be there for long.

Jerry was rooted to the spot; he wouldn't be able to stop Jack, but in good conscience, he couldn't just hole himself upstairs knowing this was going on. He was stuck at a horrible impasse with no way to break it.

"_Please!_" the woman yelled through her struggles, fearful tears leaking out of her eyes as she watched her husband expire before her, "Why are you doing this?!" she asked Jack desperately, craning her neck to look up at him.

She was met with a blank look as Jack shrugged, "Why not?" His eyes glinted and he let out a wicked laugh at the woman's continued screams and pointless pleas for her life.

His heart wrenching, Jerry turned away and was about to round the corner to the stairs, but Jack was blocking his way with a smirk on his face.

"Awww, it was just getting good," he said with a mock-pout, backing Jerry into the room, "You can't leave," and then he got a look in his eye that made Jerry's blood run cold.

"In fact," he began, smiling mischievously as he caught Jerry's gaze with his own, "_Why don't you take the other one?_" His voice was unwavering, his eyes unblinking, and Jerry's insides knotted in a frenzy when he realised what Jack wanted him to do.

He blanched, feeling all the colour drain out of his face as Jack placed the knife in his limp hand, his fingers twitching traitorously. "_No!_" He yelled defiantly, but everything in his brain was telling him otherwise, "You're whacked out if you think I'm gonna–"

Jack grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look at him as the look in his eyes became malicious and cold, "_You don't have a choice_," he said, Jerry desperately trying to wriggle out of Jack's grip, but it was unbreakable, "_Go on, kill her,_" he told him, a gleeful edge to his voice as he released him, delighting in his inner struggle.

"_No!_" Jerry felt his fingers tightening around the knife and his legs walking him over to the quietly sobbing woman, his heart starting to hammer inside his chest. He physically couldn't stop; Jack's orders were like a tight vice around his brain.

He knelt down in front of the woman, the tears streaming from her eyes making Jerry's eyes burn with his own. He tightened his grip even more, his knuckles going white as he raised it above her head, sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he felt every atom in his being slowly pulling the knife towards the woman's frantically bobbing throat.

"Please don't..." she sobbed, her eyes shining, and Jerry desperately tried to wrestle with the mind control, but it was too strong; like a hook was tugging against the inside of his brain and ripping it from the inside out every second he tried to resist, "I'm pregnant," she added as a final plea, a few more tears leaking from her eyes.

Jerry's blood turning to ice was halted by Jack's sharp voice; "No you aren't," he said knowingly, folding his arms with something like disbelief in his eyes, and Jerry turned to him, secretly grateful for the minute distraction, no matter how short.

"I'd sense another heartbeat and smell it in your blood," he went on, and out of the corner of his eye, Jerry could see the woman's eyes closing in resignation at Jack's cruel smile, "And even if you were," he shrugged, "Wouldn't make a difference," he said plainly.

Jerry's arm twitched in response to his words, the pain in his heard becoming a searing burn. He squeezed his eyes shut, digging his teeth into his lower lip as he felt his hand moving of it's own accord. He couldn't fight this, he _couldn't_...

"No, _please_–"

"I'm _so_ sorry."

Tears leaked out of Jerry's eyes as the lump in his throat dissolved. His hand moved, quick and clean and the horrific sound of the woman's choking filled his ears. When he dared open them, the mind control instantly shattered and he backed away with a harsh scream; the woman's blood was gushing out of her neck wound, her eyes lifeless and glazed over while the blood pouring out from her neck was flowing so fast it made the split edges of her throat flutter.

He stumbled backwards, all feeling lost in his body, but was met with a solid opposition as Jack was behind him, trapping him and still forcing him to keep the knife in his hand with a tight grip over it. Jerry was shaking and he was sure he had gone as white as the woman, a horrible lump forming in his throat.

"Not bad for your first try," Jack said in sick appreciation, Jerry struggling fruitlessly against his grip as he brought the tip of the knife to the edge of the woman's wound, "Although you might wanna adjust your angle a bit more," he added, and quickly thrust his hand up, Jerry's going with it, and jamming the blade up through the woman's throat and ripping it down, causing a larger slit to ooze blood.

Jerry broke away in horror, the knife flying from his hand as he threw it as far from himself as he could, Jack laughing mercilessly from behind him. The woman's lifeless eyes and the blood drenched knife were blending together in a horrifying mesh inside his brain, embedding themselves there and making sure he wouldn't forget them.

Bile rose in his throat and he felt utterly _sick_. He stood up on shaky legs, eyeing Jack with a look of shock and betrayal. "I can't believe you just made me..." He trailed off, either refusing to say the words, or not wanting to in case he actually did throw up.

"Bet it felt good to shut her up though," Jack chuckled.

Enraged at Jack's callous behaviour, Jerry punched him straight across the face, Jack's head snapping to the side with the force of it, tingles spreading rapidly up Jerry's entire arm. It was a hard punch, with everything he could muster behind it. Jack might have forgotten it entirely, but Jerry wouldn't; he didn't even bother blinking when Jack turned to him with a murderous look, a stream of blood coming down his nose.

"_You probably shouldn't have done that._"

"Felt good to shut you up though," Jerry retorted, trying to match Jack's earlier tone, but he couldn't. He was too shocked, too scared, too _human_.

He was reminded of that fact, when all too easily Jack picked him up by the throat with one hand, lifting him into the air like a rag doll, his eyes reddening and reminding Jerry harshly of the blood spilling out of both victims. That _he_ had spilt.

_Why_ hadn't he just stayed upstairs?

Jack was saying something, but Jerry couldn't hear it, could just see Jack's lips moving as his heart thundered against his ribcage.

He finally managed to catch something Jack said; "Just for that, you can bury them for me. I can't exactly leave them hanging up until sundown, can I?" and he was dropped on the floor, discarded like nothing.

Jerry found he barely had the strength to lift his head. Jack was speaking again,

"Although, get any blood on the carpet, and the police 'stumbling'" – he made quotation marks with his fingers – "across the knife with your fingerprints on it, will be the least of your problems," he said with a wry smile, picking up the blood-filled jugs and leaving the room.

Jerry laid there in a crumpled heap for what felt like hours. Despite being alone and wanting to cry, to shed tears for those people, he found they wouldn't come, the lump in his throat just wouldn't leave him. Reluctantly, he got to his feet, deciding he wasn't going to leave those people there and would give them a decent burial; about as decent as they could have.

A mixture of white-hot anger and despair hit him all at once with the strength of a tidal wave as he began to cut the couple down––with the same knife he used to _kill_ one of them––and wrap them in the plastic Jack had laid down. All of that, just because they had a certain blood type. Jack truly was the embodiment of the word, "Evil".

Jerry really wasn't sure how he managed, but he had dragged both bodies out into the garden and had found a shovel in the shed. It felt like he was completely disjointed from his body as he dug, only _hearing_ the sound of the shovel scraping the earth as opposed to _feeling _it_._

But when it came to put them in the ground, everything snapped and hit Jerry like a ton of bricks and his legs gave out. He collapsed on the ground, finally being able to cry and vomit up everything he had previously been quashing down. He didn't care about Jack seeing him, he didn't care about being caught by a spying neighbour.

His hand tightened around the wooden handle of the shovel; all he cared about was Jack getting a stake through his heart.

* * *

The contents of Jerry's stomach were once again emptied into the toilet, his heart hammering inside his chest. He had killed someone and buried two bodies, and his fingerprints were the only ones on the murder weapon because Jack was a crafty, sadistic bastard who just wanted to make his life a living Hell.

At least he was decent––and Jerry was using that term _very_ loosely––enough to let him vomit his disgust up in peace, regardless if that had been on and off all day, and just leave him to his own devices. Jerry stood up and wiped his mouth, groaning as he flushed the toilet. God, he didn't think he would ever get that poor woman's screams out of his head.

He went back to 'his' room, wondering what happened to the boy who previously inhabited it, slammed the door and sagged tiredly against the wall. His muscles ached and his stomach was churning again as he couldn't get the 'why' out of his head. She very well might have been lying about being pregnant, but what if she wasn't?

That would mean he killed a mother and her unborn child, and hypnotised or not, that made him just as bad as Jack.

And speak of the Devil he should appear, the door opened and Jack walked in carrying a tray of some of the leftover pasta from last night––with a bulb of garlic on the side––and a bottle of water.

"Just in case you wanna add some extra; all they had in the cupboards," Jack said, noticing him staring quizzically at the garlic bulb.

As he set the tray down, Jerry subconsciously wiped his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're still crying about this morning?" he asked in disbelief, his voice cold and emotionless as his eyes ridiculed him.

"_Still?!_" Jerry repeated incredulously, glaring at Jack with slightly bulging eyes, "You made me _kill_ someone!" he said emphatically, his voice rising.

Jack looked unperturbed. "Would it have been easier if she was a convicted felon?" he asked in a mocking tone, chuckling at the angry look Jerry shot his way. If looks could kill...

He nodded towards the food, Jerry stubbornly refusing to spare it a glance. "Eat up, you look like Hell," he said, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, I'm still there," Jerry spat, quirking his eyebrows and folding his arms.

Jack's eyes became colder, if that was even possible, and he leaned down to where Jerry was slumped, Jerry's angry resolve melting slightly at the look on his face: "You think this right now is Hell?" he said with a soft chuckle, the corners of his lips twitching.

"Humans do more to each other on a daily basis," he said with a knowing sneer to his voice that Jerry tried desperately to ignore, "Torture, rape, murder," he listed, his eyes narrowing, "But if you insist on lumping me with them, just remember, I was around in a time when torturing people was a celebrated past time, and I can be _so much worse." _Those last growled words sent a shiver down Jerry's spine.

Pleased with himself, Jack smiled and stood up straight, leaving the room without a backward glance and closing the door behind him.

Jerry let out a long sigh, and despite himself, he started eating some of the pasta, a plan forming in his head as he chewed his mouthful. It was risky, and blatantly stupid, but it could've worked.

He picked up the garlic, picking at it and attacking it with the fork, shedding off as many shavings as he could manage, discarding the small remnant in the waste paper basket across the room. The shavings were enough, but they wouldn't dissolve properly in water, and Jerry had to make sure it would be harder for Jack to smell.

Eyeing a football trophy on the chest of drawers, Jerry picked it up––noticing the name Sean Caulfield engraved on it––and began grinding the shards to a fine-ish powder. He then quickly downed the contents of his water bottle, then worked on getting as much of the powder in the bottle, sweeping the missed stuff under the bed.

Part one was complete, now he just needed a weapon. He glanced to the frame on the wall––holding a family photo––it would be big enough for a stake. Not too long that he wouldn't be able to conceal it properly, and not so short that he would need to get right up close.

Jerry tossed the bottle on the bed, thinking he could lace the alcohol he had seen Jack drinking throughout the day, and picked the frame off the wall. If the powder worked, Jack would be down, distracted and weak enough for Jerry to stake him in the heart.

"Sorry," he apologised as he removed the photo from the frame––hoping they were either blissfully unaware of what was happening in their home, or didn't suffer a violent death after Jack made himself at home––and the glass sheet, holding the frame aloft over his knee.

He brought it crashing down with a loud _bang!_ his knee throbbing in pain, but he didn't care. He paused to try and hear any movement from Jack downstairs that indicated he was suspicious, but he most likely wasn't, because Jerry hadn't given him any indication to assume otherwise, other than trying to the other day, but Jack most likely wouldn't have expected him to try again so soon.

He located the largest piece he could, the rest having turned into unusable pieces, and snapped off the still-attached corner, smiling to himself when the action rewarded him with a sharp point. Sharp enough to drive through someone's flesh.

But would he be able to?

Shoving the stake under the bed's pillow, he headed downstairs. It was quiet and he would hopefully find an opening to use the garlic powder. When he reached the living room though––no traces to indicate he had just been made to kill one half a couple that morning––he saw Jack throwing on a leather jacket and stopped dead in his tracks.

Jack noticed, turning to him with an almost concerned look on his face. "You all right?" he asked as he fixed the lapel of his jacket. "Not gonna vomit again, are you?" he wondered.

"Keep thinking I can hear sirens or something," Jerry lied, although thanks to his nervous voice and disposition, Jack didn't blink twice and just gave a scoff of laughter.

Jerry swallowed, managing to force out a, "Where're you going?" He had a feeling the window to execute his plan was gonna be a hard one to find, so he had to take any opportunity he could.

"Hunting," Jack replied, giving him a strange look, "It's finally sundown," he said with a nod towards the gap in the open curtains he was avoiding, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's those long summer days," he muttered in disdain, more to himself than Jerry.

"But I thought you just..." Jerry trailed off with a knowing look, not really wanting to say the words, since the thought of murder now made him want to vomit, the feeling of that knife in his hands still lingered...

"Nah, I'm saving that," Jack's voice brought Jerry back into the conversation, and he managed not to grimace in disgust as he gave a small nod. "Managed to get about eighteen pints between them," he added, pleased with himself. Jerry _did_ gag at that.

"So, you're just leaving me here?" he asked in confusion.

"What trouble could you _possibly_ get into?" Jack asked with a nonchalant shrug.

"I could call the cops on you," Jerry said as a rebuttal, folding his arms. As much as he would have loved to try it, then make a run for it while they were busy storming the place, at the same time he didn't want another cop suffering the same fate––or _worse_––as the last one Jack got his hands on.

"With what phone?" Jack shot back with a quirk of his eyebrows, chuckling to himself, "And you don't even know this address," he pointed out, Jerry silently fuming as his theoretical legs were blown out from under him. Jack was _infuriating_.

"Oh, speaking of," Jack said suddenly, holding up a finger before he rifled in his jacket pocket, Jerry furrowing his brow a little, "This has been buzzing all day." He tossed him something and Jerry caught it.

Flipping it over, Jerry's eyes widened in shock when he realised it was his phone.

"You've been _going through my phone?!_" he cried in outrage, giving Jack an incredulous, jaw-dropping, look.

"No, I couldn't be bothered to figure out the passcode," Jack said with a quick, reassuring smile.

He walked closer, and Jerry found himself caught in Jack's unblinking gaze when he looked up from his phone screen: "_Now_," he said, his pupils dialating, "_Don't answer the door to anyone_," he ordered, Jerry's mind instantly filling with a drilled repeat of the demand, "_And try and escape if you want, but just remember_, I'll always find you," he finished, flashing him a sinister smirk.

As Jack released him from the mind control, it felt like a tight pressure being yanked off his brain. He sighed in quiet frustration as Jack left the house, the lock clicking behind him. Jerry knew it was pointless to try and break it down or smash a window; if the hypnotism worked anything like the last time, he wouldn't be able to get anywhere near escape routes because an invisible barrier wouldn't let him.

Instead, Jerry unlocked his phone and went through it, eyes widening at all the missed calls from his Mum, Kim and Milton. Scrolling through his contacts, he located his Mum's number first. Easier to get her out of the way and then discreetly ask Kim to go along with the lie if needed be.

His Mum picked the phone up on the fourth ring, Jerry saying a hesitant, "Mum?" through the brief silence.

"Jerry?" His Mum said with relief in her voice, Jerry biting his lip guiltily, "_Oh, dios mio!_ You must remember to tell me if you're staying round a friend's house," she chastised him. At least she thought Jerry was round Kim or Milton's, as opposed to automatically assuming the worst.

"Sorry, Mum," Jerry apologised, quickly racking his brains for some excuse, "Kim and I were just _really_ getting into this movie," he lied, knowing his Mum wouldn't doubt that.

"Will you be home tonight?" she asked, and Jerry felt his stomach churn at the almost hopeful tone in her voice.

"Can't," he said quickly, shutting his eyes as if flinching from the abrupt tone in his voice, "I've got study group and Tom said I could stay round his and he'd take me to school in the morning," he added in a softer tone. That was an easier one to get away with, since he wasn't around to accidentally slip it never happened.

"Well come home at some point!" His Mum said, laughter in her voice that Jerry felt his throat go dry at, "Or are you too busy for your poor old mother these days?" She said it in a joking manner, but god did Jerry feel his heart twinge.

"No," he said quickly, his voice pinched. He felt tears burning in his eyes and had to get off the phone quick before his Mum suspected something was wrong with him. "Look, I've gotta go, but I'll see you soon, all right?" he promised; he just wasn't sure how soon, soon would be.

"All right, honey," his Mum said, sounding like she was satisfied, "Love you," she said as a parting, the phone hanging up a second after. Jerry was privately relieved; for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye, in case it really _was_ 'goodbye'.

His mood already maudlin, he decided to call Kim. It would probably be best if he needed to warn her to go along with his lie of a movie night.

"Hey, Kim," he greeted her when she picked up the phone.

"Hey, Jerry," she said back, sounding pleased, "Everything okay?" she asked, and Jerry could picture her brow furrowing, "We missed you at school," she said, Jerry swallowing. School had been the furthest thing from his mind with everything going on; if Jack kept him any longer, they could start phoning his Mum and telling her of his long absences.

"Just a stomach virus," he thought up quickly, knowing Kim would pass on the message to his teachers if she needed to, "I'll be fine soon," he said vaguely, praying that was actually true.

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Rudy?" Kim asked after a brief pause, sounding both nervous and grave.

Hear it? He'd heard and seen it. "No," Jerry lied, half-curious as to what story Jack had left behind to cover his tracks, "What?" he asked.

"He was mauled by an animal in the woods," Kim explained, Jerry raising his eyebrows lightly, "A wolf, or something," she added off-handedly.

He guessed it wasn't too big a stretch for Jack to run; with what savagery Jack inflicted on Rudy's body, it would have been remarkable for there to have been any pieces left. But maybe Jack had better self-control and patience––being over five-thousand years old––than Jerry thought, and he actually _could_ turn into a wolf.

"Hey, you still there?" Kim asked into the silence.

"Yeah," Jerry said suddenly, a little startled, "Just thought I heard the door go or something," he mumbled as an excuse.

Kim made an understanding sounding noise, before there was a muffled voice in the background and said, "Look, I gotta go, Dad's made dinner."

"Well, don't let me stop you from Chuck Crawford's amazing burnt meatloaf," Jerry said teasingly, hearing Kim splutter with laughter on the other end of the line.

"He made pasta!" she said back, her voice still tingling with aftershocks of her laughter.

"See you soon, Kim," Jerry said with a weak smile he was glad she couldn't see, "Love you," he added as an afterthought, sighing heavily.

"Love you too," she said back, her voice still bright and chipper. She didn't understand.

"No, I mean it," he said in a serious tone, "You and Milton," he added, feeling a lump swell up in his throat that he desperately wanted to dissolve into tears, but he couldn't. Not yet, anyway.

"You aren't dying, are you?" Kim asked, trying to sound like she was nervous, but her tone sounded _nervous_.

"No, I'm fine," Jerry lied again to reassure her, grinding his teeth as he realised he wouldn't be able to stop lying to anyone he cared about until he got Jack out of the way. "Bye."

"Bye," Kim said, hanging up the phone, while Jerry damn-near tossed his at the wall, tears of frustration burning in his eyes that he angrily scrubbed at.

Everyone he cared about would always be none-the-wiser to what was going on with him; his Mum too. But who the Hell would have believed him when he said he was being held hostage by a creature who everyone viewed, for all intents and purposes, as mythical?

He ran back upstairs to 'his' room. He got on his knees and reached under the bed, blindly fumbling in the dark space until his hand closed around the bottle with the garlic powder at the bottom.

He went downstairs and opened the liquor cart, getting his hands on any bottle he could find, and began distributing the powder, finding a packet of straws on the side to stir it in with until it had dissolved, Jerry's brow furrowing in conversation.

He was ending this.

* * *

The front door banged open and shut when Jerry's hazy eyes were drooping closed, the sound jolting his senses back to full awareness. Jack strolled in, a satiated look in his eyes, his pupils dilated so much they were black. Blacker than the darkening sky peeking over the loose hanging tops of the curtains.

Paying Jack little attention, Jerry turned his attention back to the television he'd been watching before he dozed off. He must have been out of it for a while, because the re-runs of the late night news had started, the small digital clock in the corner of the screen reading_ 01:32._

He reached for the remote and turned the volume up as the headline, _'GRISLY MURDER SCENE IN DOWNTOWN SEAFORD; A DERANGED KILLER IS THOUGHT TO BE AT LARGE'_ rolled in a relay at the bottom of the screen as the reporters' voice flooded the room with details of what was most likely Jack's late night activities.

"I'm surprised I'm not on the news yet," Jerry said loudly, purposely towards Jack, who was fumbling around with something out of the corner of his eye. The liquor cart, by the sounds of it.

A small smile pulled at his mouth. _Any minute now.._. He wasn't sure of what Jack drank, so he laced everything until he could until he ran out of powder. With any luck, Jack wouldn't drink the only damn thing he didn't.

"Even if you were, it wouldn't matter," came Jack's nonchalant response, and Jerry turned to see a devious smile on his face that made the hint of his own instantly disappear.

Ice was suddenly flooding through his veins. What the Hell had he been thinking? There was absolutely _no way_ his plan was going to work; Jack was an old vampire, and that meant two things were absolutely certain: One, he was incredibly strong, Two, he was extremely dangerous, and three, he was going to rip him to shreds when he figured this out.

Jerry swallowed nervously, shifting on the couch, his sudden paranoia making him wonder whether Jack could hear a change in his heart beat or a spike in his blood pressure. He probably could, but Jerry had to play the dumb and innocent act. It was too late to back out now, and he didn't think Jack would pass up a chance to torture him just because he admitted to spiking the alcohol with garlic powder.

Come to think of it, why had Jack given him that with his food earlier? Either he had been purposely bating him––for which Jerry fell hook, line and sinker––or garlic wouldn't work. But... how could it _not?_ Jerry had seen Tom use some against a vampire on a hunt once and when he flicked it into it's eyes, the screeches of agony nearly brought down a nearby building. At least, he thought it was garlic powder.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Jack staring at him with s peculiar expression on his face. To smooth things over, Jerry quickly said, "You've been gone a while," so at least something filled the silence.

Jack's expression turned mischievious. "Miss me then?" he asked, quirking his eyebrows.

Jerry looked back at the news, Jack giving a small laugh while he took it jacket off. Jerry nearly jumped out of his skin when it _thumped!_ on the sofa next to him, and he inwardly cursed nimself when he saw Jack had been watching.

_Cool it, Jerry_, he thought to himself sternly, _You gotta make sure he drinks something off that rack._

At the moment those thoughts entered his head, Jerry could've sworn he saw Jack smile. He quickly pushed it from his mind and tried to focus on the report the newswoman was giving about the town's fishing trade. As boring as it was, he had to stop being jumpy and he had to stop looking around, otherwise Jack would get suspicious and wouldn't drink anything.

"No, thought I'd give myself a challenge," Jack was speaking again, but Jerry didn't turn to him because he knew his eyes would wander to the liquor cart if he did, "Found a marine sergeant, and I will say, I don't think I've seen someone with that much fight in them in a _long_ time," he added with sadistic relish in his voice.

Jerry couldn't help the disgusted groan that came out of his mouth at Jack's words. How anyone––vampire or human––could delight in killing so much baffled him. Reaching down between the sofa cushions, Jerry found the stake he'd hidden there.

He was still on the fence about using it if Jack became incapacitated by the garlic powder, but... Jack deserved it, right? He was a monster and like Jack had said, even if he managed to escape he would always find him. So killing him was the only option. Although, despite everything Jack had done to him, Jerry found the idea of physically killing someone himself repulsive, even if Jack was already technically dead.

He sighed. But he had to. It was the only way to escape.

While Jack's back was turned, Jerry eased his fingers between the cushions and tightened his fingers around the stake. As quickly as he could, he pulled the stake out and shoved it down his sleeve, folding his arms to better conceal it.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief when Jack hadn't noticed and still kept his back to him as he poured over the selection of alcohol in front of him. He didn't look like he suspected anything though, more like he was browsing.

He must have felt Jerry's eyes on him because, back still turned, he asked, "You want one?" as he filled up his own glass with some scotch. Good, he had laced that one.

"I'm sixteen," Jerry said in retaliation.

Jack turned to him with a slightly bewildered expression on his face, raising an eyebrow. That clearly meant nothing to him. "So? I won't say anything," he said with a shrug, waiting for Jerry's answer.

Again, he declined. Last thing he needed to do was cringe at the tang of the garlic in the alcohol and it would be game over.

"No? Suit yourself then," Jack said with a small smile, and Jerry couldn't tear his eyes away as Jack raised the glass in a mock toast and _downed the contents all in one go._

Baffled, Jerry looked at the scotch Jack had poured himself, not caring whether he was watching or not. He was positive he laced that bottle; in fact he had to lace all of them, because he had no clue which stuff Jack would actually drink.

Jack placed the glass down without so much as a cough, his black irises making him look even more terrifying in the low light. Jerry forced himself to hold eye contact, and simultaneously, his nerve. He clutched a hand around the stake, as if it would protect him.

And he was going to need it.

"The funny thing about garlic to vampires, Jerry?" he said in a bland tone, turning the glass this way and that in his hand, "I just made it up," he admitted with a nasty smirk in Jerry's direction, Jerry swallowing hard. He needed to run, or at least try, but he was rooted firmly to the spot.

With a flick of his hand, Jack crushed the glass into tiny slivers without even so much as a blink. "If you'd bothered to pay attention yesterday, you would've noticed I put some in the pasta," he said nonchalantly, putting down his glass. The lack of emotion in Jack's eyes were absolutely _terrifying_; it was like staring into a black void.

Jack's hand twitched by his side and Jerry watched it like a hawk. In half a second, Jack could wrap it around his neck and crush his throat to pieces. Jerry tried everything to calm his heartbeat, but he couldn't, and Jack could sense it. One of his eyes twitched, the black swirling into a bright blood red.

"If I were you, I'd run," Jack said, his voice calm and even, the corner of his mouth twitching in a smirk, "The sound of your blood pumping is making me _hungry..._" he said with a deranged laugh his last word becoming distorted with his brewing anger.

As he started forward, Jerry jumped to his feet, pulling the stake out of his sleeve and holding it in front of him. Jack raised an eyebrow and snorted with laughter, the latter still sounding a little distorted. Jerry wasn't sure what unnerved him more––Jack's wicked fangs, or the cruel look emerging on his face.

He stared at the stake like Jerry was holding a pillow. "The first vampire you're going to try and slay is over five thousand years old?" he said incredulously, and Jerry could scarcely believe it himself. "You're either dumb, or sick of living," Jack growled, sending a chill down Jerry's spine.

Letting out a bestial snarl, Jack rushed towards him, the red in his eyes blazing. As Jack grabbed hold of his shirt, Jerry twisted himself to the side, using Jack's momentum against him and stabbing the stake into his stomach. His grip loosened enough for Jerry to shove him to the ground and get a good few feet away.

Jack was up on his feet faster than Jerry would've thought, the stake sticking out of his stomach. He gave Jerry a sly wink as he pulled it out of his stomach without any sign of pain, crushing it to splinters in his fist.

"Not bad," Jack said with a wry smile, walking closer to him, Jerry swallowing as his heart hammered. He couldn't move, he could barely think straight. "Although, I'm sure someone said that to your friends at some point, and look what I did to _them_," he sneered venomously.

Infuriated, Jerry levelled Jack across the face, or at least he _tried to_. His fist was caught in Jack's steel grip, and he heard the crunch of his bones before he felt it; a white hot pain throbbing through his entire arm and grey spots dancing across his vision as his knees buckled with a cry of pain, Jack's grip being the only thing keeping him standing.

Until he flicked his wrist and sent Jerry flying across the room. The coffee table shattered and splintered under his body and he collapsed amidst a heap of glass shards and splinters. As Jack's boots walked closer to him, Jerry's good hand latched onto the largest piece of wood he could find, the splinters digging into his hand so hard, blood started to drip down his wrist.

He gave a strangled yelp as Jack picked him up in a crushing one-handed grip, both his arms dangling limply at his sides. To his shock, Jack was smiling at him.

The smile turned deadly as Jack pulled him closer, hissing, "No matter what you try and do," his canines sharpened into wicked points, "I'll always win," he finished confidently, giving him a pitying look.

Jerry squeezed his eyes shut at Jack's snarl, feeling one of his limbs jerk reflexively, waiting for the excruciating Hell of fangs ravaging his neck––

But it never came.

Instead, he crumpled to the ground again, and there was a low groaning sound he was positive didn't come from him. He opened his eyes and found his little wood shard sticking out of Jack's chest, a pool of blood blossoming out from the wound and soaking his shirt.

"Not this time," Jerry shot back as Jack's eyes went wide and his skin started to grey rapidly, blood dripping from his mouth as he coughed, helplessly scrabbling at his throat.

Jack fell to his knees as they became useless, his whitening eyes looking positively depraved and his veins started to bulge out of his skin as he struggled to catch his breath, coughing out another wave of blood over the carpet before the rest of his body collapsed backwards. His mouth was ajar, his fangs receding as his final breath left his body.

Hesitantly, Jerry walked over to his body, nudging it with his boot. He didn't respond; he was _dead_.

Wincing, Jerry clutched his injured arm to his stomach, breathing back all the air Jack had thrown out of him. He was finally free. It was all over. Gritting his teeth at the throbbing in his arm, Jerry started to make for the doorway, glass and splinters shuffling underfoot.

But then he stopped cold. He wasn't standing in the remnants of the coffee table. He had moved when Jack collapsed. His eyes widened and his heart felt like it had stopped. That meant that... He turned back towards Jack's body. He didn't look like he had moved, but––

He screamed as Jack's desiccated hand shot out and grabbed his ankle.


End file.
